Special Task Force (STF) personnel wearing protective gear spray disinfectant outside the Presidential Secretariat during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against COVID-19, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on April 10, 2020. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP)

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reshuffled his cabinet, appointing seven new ministers, the President's Office said on Monday.

The ministers were sworn in overseen by the president at a small ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat in the capital Colombo, the office said in a statement.

According to the statement, former health minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi took the portfolio of the transport minister, Keheliya Rambukwella as the health minister, G.L. Peiris was appointed as the foreign minister and Dinesh Gunawardena as the education minister.

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In addition, Gamini Lokuge was appointed as the power minister, Dullas Allahapperuma as the media minister, and Namal Rajapaksa was sworn in as the Minister of Development Coordination Monitoring in addition to the portfolio of Youth and Sports.

Rambukwella took over the post of health minister as the country faces a rapid increase in COVID-19 infections due to the Delta variant. The new health minister said it was imperative that collective social responsibility of all citizens is needed to defeat the pandemic challenges.

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