Western Province under isolation until midnight Sunday
No travel, no train services out of the province from 10 p.m. Wednesday
COLOMBO – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday (11) ordered all entrances to and exits from the Western Province be closed with immediate effect until midnight Sunday (15), in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus outside the province.
The National Operations Centre for the prevention of COVID-19, in a statement issued at 7.30 p.m. Wednesday, announced that no person would permitted to travel out of the Western Province from the moment of notification being issued until midnight on Sunday.
The announcement follows the daily briefing with members of the Task Force on COVID Prevention at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday, where the president instructed officials to take “necessary steps to prevent movements from the Western Province, where the majority of the COVID infected are identified, to other parts of the country.”
Responding to the orders, Sri Lanka Railways said in a statement that effective 10:00 p.m. Wednesday there will be no train services out of the Western Province until midnight Sunday, though trains from outside the province will be allowed to enter. The bus services, both private and State owned, are expected to follow suit.
Meanwhile, President Rajapkasa during the Task Force briefing, emphasized special attention be paid to protect those suffering from non-communicable diseases from contracting the COVID – 19 virus.
Noting medical experts had pointed out that 93% of the COVID deaths reported in past few days in Sri Lanka, as well as in other countries, was due to people suffering from non-communicable diseases contracting the novel coronavirus and that people with heart ailments, diabetes, kidney problems and cancer are more vulnerable to being infected with the virus, he directed relevant parties to give priority to address the situation and disseminate applicable guidelines. He also urged awareness campaigns be conducted soon to protect those suffering from non-communicable diseases from contracting the virus.
Recognizing the hardships faced by the people in accessing major hospitals, President Rajapaksa also urged the regional dispensaries system across the country be made fully functional as soon as possible, and required resources such as doctors, nurses, midwives and other staff be provided to these dispensaries expeditiously.
He also instructed the continuous monitoring of areas designated as isolated to ensure parties involved in the delivery of goods follow the correct mechanisms and no one enters or leaves these areas.
The current situation at prisons and measures taken to prevent further spread of the diseases was also discussed in length. According to the Department of Prisons, over 100 inmates at the Welikada, Old Bogambara, and Matara prisons have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past several days.
-ENCL