COLOMBO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka on Tuesday saw its total tally of COVID-19 cases rise to 86,039 with more than 200 new confirmed infections reported by the Health Ministry.

According to the official data, the COVID-19 related death toll has risen to 507. Out of the total infections, 82,513 patients have so far recovered from the coronavirus epidemic and there are currently 3,019 active cases being treated in the Asian country.

Sri Lanka began vaccinating residents in its hotspot of coronavirus infection the Western Province including the capital Colombo in January. So far, thousands of local people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Sri Lanka has set up over 4,000 vaccination centers nationwide for inoculating its people against the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities have said.