De Silva says about 5,500 Expectant mothers Has been infected. He added that about 70% of people were vaccinated.
Experts urge pregnant women to get vaccinated, and Sri Lankan health officials say that the Delta variant appears to increase their risk of severe symptoms.
Since August, this country of 21 million people has been under a mild lockdown, and the government is expected to lift the lockdown in mid-September.
However, experts from the World Health Organization in Sri Lanka called for stricter restrictions before early October.
Despite efforts to speed up vaccination, nearly half of the total population received two doses of vaccine, but hospitals were overwhelmed during the surge.
Sri Lanka has recorded nearly 475,000 Covid-19 infections and more than 10,500 deaths, but doctors said the actual number may be much higher due to underreporting.
