COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry on Tuesday (6) demoted the head of the premier research institute responsible for COVID-19 testing, the Medical Research Institute (MRI), and appointed his former deputy as the head.
A top source from the Ministry of Health said the demotion of Dr. Jayaruwan Bandara as the MRI head was not ordered by the Minister, Pavithra Wanniarachchi. At Tuesday’s Cabinet Press briefing, Minister of Mass Media, Keheliya Rambukwelle, told reporters that Wanniarachchi will give a statement about the issue later in the day. He did not reports of Bandara’s removal.
The former MRI head in a talk show on a private television channel on Monday (50 said COVID-19 had been “present in the community for the past few months,” breaking an official silence on the subject.
Bandara said the virus has been in the community for the past few months outside the clusters identified by the health officials. “From January to now, this virus has been present in the community somehow,” he said, warning, “There is a danger in this situation.”
Bandara said it was unlikely that the COVID-19 patient would have been found in Divulapitiya after two months of no new cases reported outside the identified clusters, if there were no patients already in the community.
“How else could we have found a patient now?” Bandara asked..
He also said citizens should be aware of the situation and should start following the health guidelines issued by the health authorities.
“We do not know whether these patients or any of their contacts came to our environment or not,” he added.
-economynext.com