Sri Lanka currently has no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus as the Chinese national who contracted the disease
was tested negative according to the latest medical reports, health authorities revealed yesterday.
Speaking at a media conference at the Health Ministry in Colombo yesterday, Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe said the Chinese national will
soon be discharged from the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Angoda. He added health officials are also monitoring 16
other individuals, including six foreign nationals who are suspected of having coronavirus.
Meanwhile, 33 persons (students and their family members) who were stranded in Wuhan city where the deadly virus is suspected to have broken out were successfully brought back to the country amidst thorough quarantine measures.
SriLankan Airlines flight UL1423, consisting of 16 specially trained members, landed at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport yesterday morning.
Air Force spokesman Capt. Gihan Seneviratne said the SriLankan Airlines crew were provided a workshop on how to operate in their safety suits and the measures they have to take by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) unit. The unit was set up in 2016 to handle war related destructions and victims of such incidents.
The CBRNE has also taken steps to completely decontaminate the persons who entered Sri Lanka from Wuhan. Measures were also taken to completely decontaminate flight UL1423.
“Students and their family members were taken to the camp in Diyatalawa where they will be kept under close observation for 14 days,” Military Spokesperson Brigadier Chandana Wickramasinghe said.
He explained Diyatalawa was chosen because the area imitated the same weather patterns as Wuhan.
In a bid to further tackle the spread of coronavirus, following WHO’s declaration that the virus was a ‘public health emergency’, Department of Immigration and Emigration has instructed Chinese nationals working in the country to avoid places where locals gather to stop the deadly virus from spreading in the country.
In a letter, companies with Chinese employees were asked to take steps to avoid public exposure from yesterday, Controller General of Immigration and Emigration Pasan Ratnayake said.
“We have asked these companies to keep the Chinese workers only at their work places and boarding homes. This is a precautionary measure we have taken with immediate effect,” he said.
Sri Lanka has issued around 10,000 residence visas for Chinese nationals to work in the island.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in the meantime, also instructed health officials to explore indigenous and western medicinal remedies to find a cure for coronavirus. The instructions were given during a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday (31).
In a statement President’s Media Division stated, “The first coronavirus victim identified in Sri Lanka is now in stable condition. Sri Lankan doctors were capable of preventing the spread of the disease. President commended efforts of everyone who contributed to secure this result and advised them to continue their mission”.