Sorcery couldn’t save Lanka health minister

Sri Lanka's health minister, who publicly endorsed sorcery and magic potions to stop surging coronavirus infections in the island, has tested positive and will self-isolate, officials said yesterday. Pavithra Wanniarachchi had publicly consumed and endorsed a magic potion, later revealed to contain honey and nutmeg, manufactured by a sorcerer who claimed it worked as a life-long inoculation against the virus. She also poured a pot of "blessed" water into a river in November after a self-styled god-man told her that it would end the pandemic. The island nation of 21 million on Friday approved the emergency use of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.