Thousands of people defied public gathering restrictions to descend on a small village in central Sri Lanka for a syrup that a self-styled holy man claimed could prevent and treat coronavirus.

The country has been experiencing a surge in cases since October, with the number of infections increased more than eight-fold since then to over 28,500 and 142 dead.

Carpenter Dhammika Bandara claimed on national television last week that a so-called cure had been revealed to him by a god. But doctors in the island nation said there was no scientific basis for the syrup. There is no known cure for Covid-19, AFP reported.

Photographs of Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi published in local newspapers drinking the concoction helped spread Bandara's claim.

Reporters said some 12,000 people travelled to his small village some 85 kilometres northeast of capital Colombo, where he announced that he would be giving away some free samples.