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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged the WHO and the UN to act against China’s wet markets. It is suspected that COVID-19 might have originated from a wet market in Wuhan
Dear Fellow Sri Lankan
The Coronavirus and the restrictions imposed to help manage it are challenging to us all. However, some people in our community, particularly those at risk due to age, isolation or illness are finding it particularly difficult to cope.
The JVP UK Committee is offering a COVID-19 Community Support voluntary service for anyone who needs help with shopping, accessing healthcare, services or medications.
Some of the services that we offer:
1. If you or your family is in isolation and have nobody to help you with essential shopping, medication or any other necessary assistance, our volunteers could help
2. We can put you in touch with the government and non-government organisations who provide help/services or contact them on your behalf.
3. Our team of medical professionals can assist and advise you if you require medical advise and guidance (please be aware that they may be limited in terms of which service or advise that they can offer)
4. We understand that these are stressful times for most people, whether related to finances, health, concerns about your loved ones or any other concerns that you may have, our team can listen/advise/extend support assist you in anyway we can.
5. We can also extend this help to Sri Lanka through JVP RED force team in Sri Lanka so please let us know of any loved ones or individuals who may require assistance back home.
If you or anyone that you know needs this type of assistance please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or call us on one of the numbers below. Please also note that we extend this gesture to beyond the Sri Lankan community in the UK, to all our non-Sri Lankan friends and neighbours.
Asanga:Karunadhara07904 091266
Ranjith: Siriwardhana 07984396378
thusara Dasanayake 07903707890
Darshana Hettiarachchi 07898642683
If you would like to volunteer to join hands with us, please give us a call.
Humans are locked down inside their homes, away from the rat race, deprived of the enjoyment of wealth, position and fame. It is undeniable that COVID-19 does not recognize what is considered important in the material world when it hits the human race wherever they are if exposed. Ironically, this is no contagion for any other beings.
Much has been written on what COVID-19 has shown to the world already. There is however a promising chance to be seized especially by those who for sure, believe their lives are not going to be the same hereafter hence the need to clarify the so-called correlations of what they hitherto learned in schools, colleges, and spiritual ashrams. This is an invitation to a probe at one’s life story from a different perspective at this time of apparent despair.
One way or another, explicitly or otherwise, everyone including spiritual seekers, look for something better for ‘ the subtle egoic self, in the next moment’- both being fallacious and yet the ambitious world would embrace them regardless of the goal being ‘ ‘whatever success in the physical world and ‘enlightenment’ in spirituality.
Mankind has gone through these experiences from Spanish Flu to Bird Flu over the last few centuries and yet the true nature of life is overlooked, not only because we are trapped inside the mind made – four-dimensional illusion, but our reluctance to go against the ‘ common wave’ in which the humanity is defined and interpreted in many fields from engineering to business and religion to science.
COVID-19 was hardly expected in this magnitude despite there were some predictions, underpinning the uncertain and changing movement of existence. Except for the humor in social media, there is suffering across the world and yet people do not believe that there was suffering all along, that was termed in modern days as anxiety, stress, worries, depression and earlier days as anger, hatred, grief, misery caused by diseases, hunger, and poverty, etc.
The belief in the ‘free will and choice’ – the biggest delusion in human history which, the COVID -19 is revealing to some extent as an expression of the universe which calls for one response from the humanity, just one – Compassion!
Before we return to where we were prior to the onset of the pandemic, and some may not get there, grasp the possibility that the truth may not be what you thought it was. Is there a way out of the character in the movie, or the dream which is real only when dreaming?
Seeing this could well be the freedom which can hardly be expressed through the language.
vwanigasekera@gmail.com
වෛද්ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග විසින් 71 කැරැල්ල පිළිබඳව අධ්යයනයක් කොට කැරළිකරුවන් සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවලට ලක් කරමින් ඉතිහාසයේ සැඟව පැවති සාධකයන් ඉස්මතු කරමින් ඉතා අගනා සමාජ විද්යාත්මක හා ඓතිහාසික වශයෙන් වටිනා කෘතියක් පාඨකයාට ලබා දීම ප්රශස්ත කරුණක් ලෙස මම දකිමි. – ආචාර්ය ලීල් ගුණසේකර 71 කැරැල්ලේ පුනරුත්ථාපනය පිළිබඳ අතිරේක ලේකම්
71 කැරැල්ලේ ඉතිහාසයෙන් වැළළී ගිය සිද්ධීන් වෛද්ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග විසින් මෙම කෘතිය හරහා හෙළිදරව් කරයි – මහාචාර්ය කාලෝ ෆොන්සේකා
1971 කැරැල්ල සුවිශේෂිව සලකා බලනවිට, ඒ පිළිබඳව මේ වන විට සැලකිය යුතු ලිඛිත සාහිත්යයක් දැකිය හැකිය. වෛද්ය රුවන් ජයතුංග විසින් රචිත මෙම ග්රන්ථය ඊට එක්කළ තවත් සැලකිය යුතු ප්රකාශනයක් වන අතර, 1971 කැරැල්ල පිළබඳව පාඨකයාට ඒ මගින් සැලකිය යුතු අවබෝධයක් ලබා දෙනවාට සැක නැත. –මහාචාර්ය සිරි හෙට්ටිගේ සමාජ විද්යාව පිළිබද සම්මානිත මහාචාර්ය කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්යාලය
1971 තරුණ නැගී සිටීම (කැරැල්ල?) නිදහස් ලංකාවේ සමාජ අසමමිතියන් හා විසමතා පුපුරා ගිය පළමු අවස්ථාවයි. එය ලක් සමාජය දැඩි කම්පනයකට පත් කළත් එයින් නිසි පාඩම් නූගත් නිසා තවත් තරුණ ප්රචණ්ඩත්වයන් දෙකක් මතු විය. විනිශ්චයකින් තොරව 1971 සිදුවීම් හා විපාක ගැන වෛද්ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග මෙනෙහි කරන්නේ උපේක්ෂා සහගතවය. –නාලක ගුනවර්ධන – ජේෂ්ඨ මාධ්යවේදී
2020. 04. 04
පවිත්රා වන්නිආරච්චි මහත්මිය,
සෞඛ්ය හා දේශීය වෛද්ය අමාත්යතුමිය,
සෞඛ්ය හා දේශීය වෛද්ය අමාත්යාංශය,
කොළඹ 10.
මහත්මියණි,
කොරෝනා මර්ධන කටයුතුවල නියුතු සෞඛ්ය හා අනෙකුත් කාර්ය මණ්ඩලවලට අයශ්ය සම්මත පුද්ගල ආරක්ෂක උපකරණ (standerd Personal protective equipments) අඛණ්ඩව සැපයීම සහතික කිරීම.
ලොව පුරා සීග්රයෙන් පැතිරීයන කොරෝනා වෛරසය මේ වන විට ශ්රී ලංකාවටද දැඩි බලපෑමක් එල්ල කර ඇති මේ අතිශය තීරණාත්මක මොහොතේ උක්ත කාර්ය පිළිබඳව ඔබගේ දැඩි අවධානය යොමු කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.
කොරෝනා මර්ධන ක්රියාවලියේදී රෝගය ආසාධිත පුද්ගලයින්, ආසාධිත යැයි සැකකරන පුද්ගලයින් සහ නිරෝධානයට ලක්කරන පුද්ගලයින් සමග ඍජුව කටයුතු කරන සෞඛ්ය හා අනෙකුත් කාර්ය මණ්ඩලවල සාමාජිකයන්ට දැඩි අවධානම් තත්වයක් යටතේ සේවය කිරීමට සිදුව තිබේ.
මේ වන විට ලෝක සෞඛ්ය සංවිධානය විසින් පුද්ගල ආරක්ෂක උපකරණ භාවිතය සම්බන්ධව නිකුත් කර ඇති මාර්ගෝපදේශ හා ඊට අනුකූලව සෞඛ්ය අමාත්යාංශය විසින් නිකුත් කර ඇති මාර්ගෝපදේශවලට අනුව කටයුතු කිරීමට සෞඛ්ය/සෞඛ්ය නොවන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලවලට සිදුවේ. එසේ වුවද දැනට ඒ සඳහා භාවිතයට ගත යුතු සම්මත තත්වයේ පුද්ගල ආරක්ෂක උපකරණ ප්රමාණවත් පරිදි අඛණ්ඩව සැපයීමක් සිදු නොවන බව අප සංගමයට තොරතුරු ලැබෙමින් පවතී. දැනට භාවිතා කරනු ලබන විවිධ ක්රම මගින් ලැබෙන උපකරණවල ගුණාත්මක තත්වය පිළිබඳව සහතික වීමක්ද නැත.
මෙම තත්වය මගින් එම කාර්ය මණ්ඩලවල සාමාජිකයන්ගේ ජීවිතවලට දැඩි අනාරක්ෂිත තත්වයක් ඇති විය හැකිය.
එවැනි තත්වයක් වළක්වා ගැනීම සඳහා ඉදිරි කාලය තුලදී මෙම උපකරණ අඛණ්ඩව සැපයීම සිදු කළ යුතුව ඇති බැවින් එම උපකරණවල තිබෙන හිගය මගහරවා ගැනීම සඳහා කටයුතු කළ යුතුය. ඊට අමතරව එම උපකරණ සම්මත තත්වයට අනුකූලව අප රටතුලද ප්රමාණවත් පරිදි නිෂ්පාදනය කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කළ යුතුය. ඒ සඳහා තාක්ෂණ දැනුම සහිත තාක්ෂණ කමිටුවක් පත් කළ යුතුය. දැනට අප රටේ තිබෙන ඇඟලූම් හා වෙනත් කර්මාන්ත කිහිපයක් භාවිතා කර මෙම උපකරණවල අවශ්යතාවය පැන නගින ආකාරය අනුව නිෂ්පාදනය කිරීමට හැකි පරිදි නිෂ්පාදන ධාරිතාවක් පවත්වා ගත යුතුය.
ඉහත සඳහන් පරිදි සෞඛ්ය හා අනෙකුත් කාර්ය මණ්ඩලවල ජීවිත ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු කරමින් සේවාව අඛණ්ඩව පවත්වා ගැනීමට සම්මත තත්වයෙන් යුතු පුද්ගල ආරක්ෂක උපකරණ එම කාර්යය මණ්ඩලවල සියලූ දෙනාට අඛණ්ඩව සැපයීම සහතික කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.
ස්තූතියි.
මෙයට,
වෛද්ය ජයන්ත බණ්ඩාර
ප්රධාන ලේකම්
සමස්ත ලංකා වෛද්ය නිළධාරීන්ගේ සංගමය.
පිටපත් –
1. සෞඛ්ය ලේකම් භද්රානි ජයවර්ධන මහත්මිය,
2. සෞඛ්ය සේවා අධ්යක්ෂක ජනරාල් අනිල් ජාසිංහ මැතිතුමා
3. වෛද්ය සැපයීම් අංශයේ අධ්යක්ෂ කපිල වික්රමරත්න මහතා
When I read the above news published on a pro-government website I am at a loss to understand who should dictate the terms for the corona prevention program in the country.
Why is the GMOA which did not give a hoot about dying patients when they instigated strikes killing patients is trying to dictate terms to the country.
Anil Jasinghe and Prabha Palihawadana who lead health department should dictate guidelines
I also note the Padeniya and few other cohorts appearing in TV trying to show that they can save the country
Where were they when untimely union actions were instigated for various unrealistic demands like taking over Neville Fernando Hospital?
It is like Thonda’s union trying to run estates and Anthare trying to run private sector
Dr. Sarath Obeysekera
CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard
Colombo
Sri Lanka
1.) කඩදාසිය, බැංකු පොත, කාසි සහ මුදල් නෝට්ටු භාවිතය අත්හැරීම.
2.) විද්යුත් සටහන් භාවිතයට පෙළඹීම සහ පුස්තකාල, පුවත්පත් භාවිතය අඩුවීම.
3.) ජීවිත අවධානම ගැනීමට අකැමැති අය වෛද්ය , හෙද, ඖෂධවේදී වෘත්තීන්ට ඇතුලත්වීම අවම වීම.
4.) විද්යුත් ඡන්ද ක්රමයක් මගින් ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය ක්රියාත්මක කිරීම.
5.) කෘෂිකාර්මික කටයුතු සදහා ඉහළ ඉල්ලුමක් ඇතිවීම සහ සමූහ ගොවිපොළ ක්රම සහ ගෙවතු වගාව ජනප්රිය වීම.
6.) විනිසුරුවරු වීදුරු කුටියක හෝ වීදුරු ආවරණයකදී විනිශ්චයාසනගත වීම සහ විවෘත අධිකරණයට ඇතුල්විය හැකි නීතිඥවරු සහ මහජනතාව සීමා කිරීම.
7.) ආරවුල් නිරාකරණය සදහා අධිකරණය, පොලීසිය වෙත යොමුවන සංඛ්යාව අඩුවීම සහ සමථකරණය මගින් ආරවුල් විසදාගැනීම ඉහළ යාම.
8.) විදේශයන්ට යන අය සමාජයෙන්/ පවුලෙන් ඈත් වීම.
9.) සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය සමග නිරෝධායනය ක්රම සම්බන්ධ වීම.
10) පුද්ගලික ගුවන් යානා භාවිතය ඉහළ යාම.
11.) මෝටර් සයිකල් සහ පාපැදි භාවිතය ඉගළ යාම සහ පොදු ප්රවාහන සේවා නිරෝධායන සෞඛ්ය ප්රතිපත්තිවලට අනුගත වීම.
12.) ආගම් අතර පරතරය සහ විෂමතා අවම වීම සහ පොදු සමාජ ක්රියාකාරීකම්වලදී ආගමික මූලධර්ම අනුව නොව පොදු සමාජ භාවිතය අනුව කටයුතු කිරීමට පෙළඹීම.
13.) විදුලි පංකා, වායුසමීකරණ කාර්යාලවල පොදුවේ භාවිතයෙන් ඈත් වීම.
14.) පාසල්, විශ්ව විද්යාල, උසස් අධ්යාපන ආයතනවල පංතිකාමර පොදු ආධ්යාපනය වෙනුවට පුද්ගල අධ්යාපනය මුල්කරගත් දුරස්ථ විද්යුත් අධ්යාපන ක්රම වෙත මාරුවීම.
15.) පුද්ගලික සෞඛ්ය සහ පොදු සෞඛ්ය කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කිරීම ඉහළ යාම.
නීතිඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන (2020.04.04)
Curfew will continue in the “high risk” districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Puttalam, Jaffna and Kalutara
Colombo, April 4 (newsin.asia): The Sri Lankan government has said that there is a possibility that the curfew imposed on districts which are not in high risk of being infected by the coronavirus, could be lifted by the end of the Sinhala New Year season.
The Sinhala New Year is celebrated on April 13 and 14 but the celebratory season could extend by a week.
At a high-level meeting presided over by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, here on Saturday, the progress of the COVID-19 prevention program was reviewed and decisions on the steps needed to be taken were made.
It was observed that except for the few districts identified as high risk zones where the most number of COVID-19 patients were found, the spread of the virus at present does not pose a threat to the other districts. Therefore, there is a possibility that the current restrictions imposed on these districts (those not in the high risk category) could be lifted by the end of the Sinhala New Year season.”
The current prevention program will continue as it is until this period. Thereafter, a decision as to the next step to be taken, will be considered after further studying the situation,” the Presidential Media Division said in a statement.
In other words, the curfew in the high risk” districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Puttalam, Kalutara and Jaffna will continue, while in the case of the other districts, which are not high risk” it is likely to be lifted after the Sinhala New Year season.
On the meeting with the President, the press statement further said: The President of Government Medical Officers Association Dr Anuruddha Padeniya analyzed the manner this virus had affected the country geographically and the government’s actions to control the epidemic. It was noted that the government’s timely actions from when this virus first entered the country helped manage to keep the situation under control,” the press release said.
It was also noted at the discussion, that the steps adapted henceforth had helped officials to correctly identify both the infected and those who had been compromised due to associating with the infected. However, it was also perceived that the danger is yet to pass.”
Not only COVID-19 positive patients, but also those suspected to have contracted the virus and those who had been in close association with these two groups will be regularly and repeatedly tested. This is in line with the procedures followed by countries that have successfully brought the spread of this virus under control.”
Rumours of Total Lockdown Denied
Meanwhile, the Lankan police spokesman, Ajith Rohana, said that rumoors spread about a compete lockdown in the country are baseless. These rumours are being investigated by the Crime Investigation Department.”
Defense Secretary Maj.Gen (rtd). Kamal Gunaratne said in a statement in the website www.defence.lk that those who are spreading the rumour that there would be a five-day total local lockdown are doing so to create a fear psychosis among the public” and added that no such decision has been taken by the government so far.”
The General asked people not to be misled by these rumours and that police will deal with these rumourmongers.
Hotlines have been set up by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka
Colombo, April 4 (newsin.asia): The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) together with Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Lanka Electricity Company Private Limited (LECO) and National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWS&DB) to implement a special service to provide immediate solutions to the issues of electrical systems and plumbing of the households of electricity and water consumers, during the curfew period with effect from today.
Facilities have been provided to rectify the problems of electrical systems and plumbing issues in the premises of the customers through a hotline service which has already been implemented. With the new service, the consumer can seek the assistance of an electrician or a plumber near to consumers’ residential area to sort the issue.
The database has already been established containing the information of electricians and plumbers residing in every district of Sri Lanka and the PUCSL has already taken measures to provide the same information to respective Police Stations and Divisional Secretariats to maximize the service provided. This service is provided by registered electricians and plumbers in accordance with approved safety practices and guidelines required during the curfew hours.
This special service will be implemented in the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara Districts where the curfew is in force, as the first phase. It is expected to extend this special technical support service to other districts according to the demands of the consumers. The relevant electricians and plumbers are advised to charge a reasonable fee and issue an acceptable receipt for the service they provide.
Therefore, in case of a problem of plumbing system at your home, you can dial 1939 to obtain the services of a plumber. If you are a consumer of CEB and in a case of a problem in your electrical system at home, you can now dial 1987 to obtain the services of an electrician and if you are a consumer of LECO, you can get the same service through 1910.
Also, if you need further information regarding this service, you can connect with PUCSL via 0764271030. Once the service of an electrician or plumber is obtained, the customer’s response to the service can be communicated to the same numbers.
For more information: –
The danger posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka is yet to pass but the restrictions imposed on the ‘low risk’ districts could be lifted by the end of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year Season, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said today.
This has been observed at a meeting Presided by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and took place at the Presidential Secretariat to review the progress of the COVID-19 prevention program and to decide on the steps needed to take this program forward.
The PMD said President of Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya has analyzed the manner the virus had affected the country geographically and the Government’s actions to control the spread. “It was noted that the Government’s timely actions from when this virus first entered the country helped manage to keep the situation under control.
It was also noted at the discussion that the steps adopted henceforth had helped officials to correctly identify both the infected and those who had been compromised due to associating the infected. However, it was also perceived that the danger is yet to pass.
At the same time, it was observed that except for the few districts identified as high risk zones where the most number of COVID-19 patients were found, the spread of the virus at present does not pose a threat to other districts.
Therefore, there is a possibility that the current restrictions imposed on these districts could be lifted by the end of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season.
The current prevention programmme will thus continue as it is until this period. Thereafter, a decision as to the next step to be taken will be considered after further studying the situation.
Headed by President Rajapaksa, this COVID-19 prevention programmme so far had been based on the professional advice from the health, medical, security and legal expertise.
The programme will continue to rely on these expertise until the crisis is brought under control. The on-going processes will continue to monitor the pandemic from a global context whilst studying the guidelines issued periodically by the World Health Organization. Comparing these results and recommendations with the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the programme will be updated as suitable and needed.
Not only COVID-19 positive patients, but also those suspected to have contracted the virus and those who had been in close association with these two groups will be regularly and repeatedly tested.
This is in line with the procedures followed by countries that have successfully brought the spread of this virus under control,” the PMD said. Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Former Western Province Governor Dr. Seetha Arambepola Secretary Defence (Rtd) Major General Kamal Gunaratna, Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Acting IGP C.D. Wickramarathna, GMOA officers and the Chairman of Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka Jayantha de Silva joined the discussion.
Reports circulating on social media of a complete lockdown enforced from April 10 to 15 where food supply and delivery would be suspended are completely false, Police spokesman SP Jaliya Senaratne said.
Issuing a statement SP Senaratne said the false reports indicated that during the supposed lockdown, the law will strictly be enforced, where vehicles vending products such as bakery items will not be permitted to operate while no retail operations will be allowed to be carried out.
The police spokesman denied such reports stating that the government has made no such decision thus far. The police warned against those who circulate such false reports on social media, adding that the Criminal Investigations Department has launched a probe to identify and take legal action against those who create and circulate such misleading posts.(Kalani Kumarasinghe)
Four more patients have tested positive for COVID-19 as of 10.30 pm today (04), stated the Ministry of Health.
Accordingly, the total count of coronavirus positive cases in the country has risen to 166.
In the meantime, 27 patients who contracted the virus had completely recovered and been discharged from the hospitals.
The fatality count in the country came up to 5 this morning with the death of a 44-year-old male who had recently arrived from Italy.
Headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a discussion took place today (04) at the Presidential Secretariat to review the progress of the COVID-19 prevention program and decide on the steps needed to take the program forward.
At the meeting, President of Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya analyzed the manner this virus had affected the country geographically and the Government’s actions to control the spread.
It was noted that the Government’s timely actions from when this virus first entered the country helped manage to keep the situation under control. It was also noted at the discussion that the steps adopted henceforth had helped officials to correctly identify both the infected and those who had been compromised due to associating the infected. However, it was also perceived that the danger is yet to pass.
At the same time, it was observed that except for the few districts identified as high-risk zones where the most number of COVID-19 patients were found, the spread of the virus at present does not pose a threat to other districts.
Therefore, there is a possibility that the current restrictions imposed on these districts could be lifted by the end of the Sinhala New Year season, stated President’s Media Division.
Thus the current prevention program will thus continue as it is until this period. Thereafter, a decision as to the next step to be taken will be considered after further studying the situation.
Headed by President Rajapaksa this COVID-19 prevention program thus far had been based on professional advice from health, medical, security, and legal expertise. The program will continue to rely on these experts until the crisis is brought under control.
The on-going processes will continue to monitor the pandemic from a global context whilst studying the guidelines issued periodically by the World Health Organization. Comparing these results and recommendations with the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the program will be updated as suitable and needed.
Not only COVID-19 positive patients but also those suspected to have contracted the virus and those who had been in close association with these two groups will be regularly and repeatedly tested. This is in line with the procedures followed by countries that have successfully brought the spread of this virus under control.
Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Former Western Province Governor Dr. Seetha Arambepola Secretary Defence (Rtd) Major General Kamal Gunaratna, Commander of Sri Lanka Army Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Acting IGP C.D. Wickramarathna, officers from the Government Medical Officers Association the Chairman of Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka Jayantha de Silva joined the discussion.
Under the recommendations of the special committee appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 2,961 prison inmates have been released on bail since March 17.
President Rajapaksa appointed the committee to make recommendations on the possibility of providing legal redress for the prisoners following a request made by the inmates during an inspection tour of the Prison premises, President’s Media Division.
The Committee comprising officials of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Prisons made their recommendations to the Secretary to the President on the reliefs to be granted to the prison inmates.
Inmates who are unable to pay fines or pay for bail money or to produce personal bail, imprisoned for minor offenses and those who had completed the better part of their prison term or inmates suffering from illnesses and those who have not been granted bail have been considered under this relief scheme, Director General, Legal Affairs of the Presidential Secretariat Attorney –at – Law Harigupta Rohanadheera said.
Currently, prisons in Sri Lanka accommodate over 26,000 inmates while the total capacity does not exceed 10,000 persons. The health situation in the country had also been taken into consideration. Those who had been released are expected not to violate the terms of relief granted by the Courts.
Increasing numbers of younger people are falling seriously ill or dying with coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
Officials said they were trying to better understand” why apparently healthy patients aged under 60 ended up in intensive care units (ICU) with the disease.
There are still many unknowns at this present time,” said WHO expert, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, at a press conference in Geneva.
Overall, most of the people who are experiencing severe disease and ending up in ICU are people of older age and are people who have underlying conditions.
But what we are seeing in some countries, individuals who are in their thirties, forties and fifties who are in ICUs and have died.
We are seeing more and more younger individuals who are experiencing severe disease.”
It comes after a 13-year-old boy with no apparent health problems died in a London hospital on Monday. His immediate family were unable to attend the funeral because they were in self-isolation.
In Korea, one in six COVID-19 deaths are among people under the age of 60, the WHO said.
And in Italy, around 10 to 15 per cent of people who ended up in intensive care units (ICU) with the virus were aged under 50.
However, Dr Van Kerkhove also urged caution in comparing death rates around the world, saying that we have some time to go before we can really understand what mortality looks like across different countries”.
Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s emergencies programme, also stressed that the majority of people who experience severe illness tend to be older and with pre-existing health problems.
It’s not that anything has changed,” he added. It’s that we collectively have been living in a world where we have tried to convince ourselves that this disease is mild and more severe in older people.
But I think the evidence has been there all along. There is a spectrum of severity.”
Last week the mother of 21-year-old Chloe Middleton, who died of coronavirus despite having no underlying health issues, urged the public to take government advice seriously. To all the people out there that think it’s just a virus, please think again,” she said.
Source: The Independent
The US on Friday set a new record for the number of COVID-19 deaths in one day with 1,480 dead, the most of any country since the pandemic began. That topped the record set by the US the previous day with 1,169 deaths.
More than 59,000 people have died from COVID-19, and over one million infected, since it was first detected late last year.
Worse may be coming as a quarter of global infections are in the United States, where US President Donald Trump has warned of a very, very painful” first two weeks of April. The US has over 277,000 confirmed case, more than any country.
Europe reached the dark milestone of 40,000 dead, with Spain on Friday reporting more than 900 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Spaniard Javier Lara survived after being put on oxygen in an overcrowded intensive care unit — a shock to a 29-year-old who was athletic and doesn’t smoke.
I was panicking that my daughter would get infected,” he said, describing facing death with an eight-week-old as the worst moment” in his life.
But there were also signs the peak may be passing in Europe.
Hardest-hit Italy recorded 766 new deaths but its infections rose by just four percent, the lowest increase yet, according to the civil protection service.
It’s true that the latest figures, as high as they are, give us a little bit of hope,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
But it is definitely much too early to see a clear trend in that, and it is certainly too early to think in any way about relaxing the strict rules we have given ourselves,” she added.
Prosperous countries have borne the brunt of the disease, but there are fears of an explosion among the world’s most vulnerable living in conflict zones or refugee camps.
The worst is yet to come,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, referring to countries such as Syria, Libya and Yemen. The COVID-19 storm is now coming to all these theaters of conflict.”
The world economy has been pummeled by the virus and associated lockdowns, with the US economy shedding 701,000 jobs in March — its worst showing since March 2009 in the wake of the subprime banking crisis. Even more dire figures are expected for April.
Financial ratings agency Fitch predicted the US and eurozone economies would shrink this quarter by up to 30 percent and the Asian Development Bank warned the global economy could take a $4.1 trillion hit — equivalent to five percent of worldwide output.
Latin America is heading into a deep recession” with an expected drop of 1.8 to 4% in GDP, according to the UN economic commission for the region.
In signs that the world wants to avoid a repeat of the crisis, the African country of Gabon said it was banning the sale and consumption of bats and pangolins, the critically endangered, scaly mammals.
The novel coronavirus is believed to have come from bats, but researchers think it might have spread to humans via another mammal such as pangolins through an unsanitary meat market in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus first emerged.
The virus has chiefly killed the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, but recent deaths among teenagers and babies have highlighted the dangers for people of all ages.
In Spain, 34-year-old Vanesa Muro gave birth with COVID-19 and has been warned not to touch her newborn without wearing gloves and masks.
It’s hard,” she told AFP. He grabs your finger, the poor little thing, and holds onto the plastic, not on to you.”
As the death toll mounted, US authorities advised all Americans on Friday to wear masks in public to protect against the virus, fearing the illness that has infected more than one million people worldwide may be spreading by normal breathing.
Trump said the government recommendation for all 330 million Americans to wear non-medical masks in places such as grocery stores would last for a period of time.”
It’s going to be really a voluntary thing,” Trump told reporters. You don’t have to do it and I’m choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it and that’s okay.”
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the decision came because many people with the virus were showing no symptoms, but warned it was still vital to practice social distancing” by maintaining space between people.
The announcement came after Anthony Fauci, who is leading the government’s scientific response, backed recent scholarship that found the virus SARS-CoV-2 can be suspended in the ultra-fine mist formed when people exhale.
Research indicates the virus can actually be spread even when people just speak as opposed to coughing and sneezing,” Fauci said on Fox News.
The National Academy of Sciences sent a letter to the White House on April 1 summarizing recent research on the subject, saying it’s not yet conclusive but the results… are consistent with aerosolization of virus from normal breathing.”
Since the virus was first identified in China in late December last year, health experts have said it is primarily spread through coughing and sneezing.
The US recommendation will likely worsen an already severe shortage of masks in the United States and Europe, which both rely heavily on imports from China.
Trump urged Americans to just make something” or use scarves, saving clinical masks for health professionals and patients.
-Agencies
A special search operation has been kicked off to apprehend those who gather in groups at apartment complexes and other such places in Colombo and suburbs, says DIG Ajith Rohana.
He added that the police have already received information on such persons.
Taking into account the request made by farmers, curfew has been relaxed for machinery repair shops, DIG Rohana said further.
In the meantime, a total of 12,223 have been arrested island-wide for violating curfew orders, the Police Media said.
The police have arrested 1,493 persons for violating curfew orders during the 24-hour period from 6.00 am yesterday (03) until 6.00 am this morning (04).
Accordingly, the total number of curfew violators, who were placed under arrest since March 20, now stands at 12,223.
A total of 3,017 vehicles have also been seized.
Mangolk has created a central directory of delivery services people can use during the curfew.
https://mangolk.com/#5e8397a205ac5a402b71ecea,5e8397a205ac5a402b71ef2f
Coronavirus does not discriminate. It treats all equally. Rich-poor-Old-young, it doesn’t care if you live in West-East, North-South, the virus doesn’t care whether you are Sinhalese Tamil Muslim or Burgher or whether you are Buddhist Hindu, Islam or Christian/Catholic/Born Again. Virtually every country in the world is affected, close to 50,000 people already dead and Sri Lanka has also seen its 4th death and no one is certain when it will all end. This enemy is far worse than the LTTE terrorists that plagued the nation for 30 years or the jihadi terror attack of 21 April 2019. We do not know what this enemy looks like, when it will enter our system and once it has entered what it has in store for us. We do know that with precautions taken we can come out of it but without precautions taken we are sure of fatalities. In such a scenario of uncertainty when authorities need the support and cooperation of the citizens it is more than selfish for a segment of people to demand only their needs be catered to by the State. Holding placards ‘minority rights’ ‘freedoms’ ‘religious rights’ to justify their demands at this volatile juncture is not what the Nation expects to see from a community claiming to support National interest. This is not what the nation expects from any community in such a fragile and vulnerable situation the country is in. In a National crisis support cannot come tied to bargains or threats.
Every ethnic group or religion have their customs and rituals when it comes to death and thus far every citizen of Sri Lanka has had no issues in carrying out these customs/rituals.
Buddhists have numerous rituals related to the death of a loved one. Hindus likewise also have their own sets of rituals. Christians also have their customs while Catholics have their own plot to bury their dead. Why is it that no Catholic is making demands to bury their covid-19 dead? In Italy most of the early cases of covid-19 deaths were cremated and disposed of as early as possible. Perhaps family members had no time to even come to the hospital or chose not to come to the hospital in fear of contamination. What Catholics are not demanding considering the larger picture why are Muslims being so selfish for the dead ignoring the risk to the lives of the living?
In fact, before Sri Lanka’s first Muslim corona-victim was cremated the authorities had asked 2 members of the family to be present but no one came and it shows how much even the family would have feared contamination.
https://theleader.lk/news/2546-pm-appoints-special-committee-to-bury-muslim-bodies-proposal-to-concrete-pits – concrete the site… what will they come up with next! How fair is this?
But, the country is in a different situation. We are facing a pandemic hitting all nations of the world, no one really has answers for covid-19 and everyone is only experimenting. But the objective of everyone from the State to the health work to the armed forces to the street cleaner is to ensure no one’s life is jeopardized. In times of uncertainty, the State has to think of the worst case scenario & prepare rules to protect the living. The priority is the living and not the dead.
All of us are carrying customs and rituals passed down over centuries but none of us can claim to practice all in the same manner done during the cave day periods. So if we have fine-tuned the customs then we can certainly fine-tune our thinking into accepting what suits a national & global calamity.
Anyone who has died from covid-19 has departed but should we create situations where more and more people join the dead? This is not what we want to happen. If by negligence the State acts irresponsibly without thinking of the living, the people will turn against the State & blame the State. None of those now demanding exclusive burial will take accountability for their actions that may have pressurized the State to change its decision. But no state can or should change decisions to make one community happy against the risk likely to accrue to the rest of the communities.
The people demanding burials of Muslims must answer
Burials & Islamic Suicide bombers
99% of terrorist suicide bombers are Muslim. They get virtually cremated during the suicide bombing itself. So what is the theory here? The suicide bombers who killed themselves along with 250 others on Easter Sunday in 2019 did not get any burial send off with Islamic rituals. Of course some would jump to say the comparison is incorrect however what happened was the burning of the body of the suicide bomber and many commit suicide to become martyrs of Allah.
Cremations from Covid-19 of Muslims
Argentina cremated its first Jewish victim. Mumbai/India cremated its first Muslim covid-19 victim on 1st April. Israel announced mandatory cremations. https://www.timesofisrael.com/state-mandated-cremation-a-posthumous-mitzvah-says-leading-orthodox-rabbi/
While a Muslim cleric Wasim Rizvi has backed precautions over faith saying ‘cremate, don’t bury Muslim coronavirus victims’ but his comments have caused uproar.
The Governments stand on coronavirus has nothing to do with reconciliation programmes, National unity or National harmony. This is about a disease which is a contagious pandemic which no one knows how to control and authorities are now only able to curtail and contain the situation by keeping people in isolation & quarantine.
Therefore, when the State takes these odds & decides to cremate all dead victims of covid-19, all citizens must comply whether they like it or not. There is no requirement to be explaining scientific reasoning, or graphically showing the impact of endangering water resources, flora & fauna. People should have commonsense enough to realize the dangers of covid-19 and feel happy that the Government has taken a decision with the interest of all citizens in mind.
The decision by the State regarding covid-19 has nothing to do with you showing political allegiance to the State by agreeing with the decision or opposing against the State to show political opposition, or expecting minorities to make counter demands just to showcase voice of the minority community. This is certainly not the time to picking pages, clauses or lines from the country’s constitution to prove a legal point. The decision was taken by the State considering public health of the living (humans, animals and flora/fauna) Constitution only gives rights & freedoms to individual not communities.
No persons’ rights or freedoms can impede on the rights & freedoms of another – that is the golden rule!
Decisions cannot be taken on emotions & must be taken in the best interest of Sri Lanka.
The entire world is in shock & fear – everything has changed. Shaking hands is just as deadly as an automatic weapon, to show one’s love we have to keep a distance from loved ones.
Nature has reminded man again that we are only guests on this planet & we cannot contaminate it any further.
This is why it becomes necessary to cremate the dead & kill the virus which may remain in the body of the deceased.
Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,”
This is not the time to be playing petty politics. Everyone is suffering some form of agony and no one’s agony is more than any others. Covid-19 should have taught us that. Every death is sad for every family, community & country but no community can demand or should demand special privileges for itself.
The most sensible and logical way for Muslims to ensure no Muslim is cremated is to abide by the covid-19 guidelines set out by the Govt – self-isolate, quarantine, social distancing and adhering to the curfew & other measures adopted. By flouting these … people are only asking for trouble and inviting dangers.
There are plenty waiting to fish in muddy waters searching for opportunities to catch a topic and run to Geneva with crocodile tears on behalf of the Muslims & their burial rites. Muslims in Sri Lanka to spite the decision regarding cremation don’t take Sri Lanka into another witch hunt and waste valuable time to rebuild Sri Lanka.
Shenali D Waduge
It is extremely encouraging that the Sri Lanka Administration is doing an admirable job of containing the COVID 19 virus pandemic and guiding the Nation through what appears to be dire straits and most Sri Lankans are responding through their cognitive capabilities and the coercion of Law enforcement and hopefully, the issues related to its spread and devastating repercussions will be minimized and eventually overcome.
It is a time where all leaders regardless of their political affiliations need to unite and stand as one to safeguard our Motherland where distinctions and diversities need to be done away with towards Her preservation. Towards this, standing firmly behind our President and abiding by all the requisites laid down through his dictates and those of the World Health Organization are foremost and of paramount importance.
The following information – Courtesy of Lanka Page and well compiled will hopefully be of assistance towards maintaining the well being of all Sri Lankans as well as all readers of every origin towards their own personal safety.
Blessings from every Faith and Denomination come with this toward the safety of ALL OF HUMANITY
Quote:-
According to the world reports the COVID-19 is now in 85 countries. This is despite four countries still accounting for 97% of COVID-19 cases. The coronavirus epidemic has now forced nearly one-third of the world’s population into lockdown. It is a fight that many countries will face all the same. If not managed properly, according to research, the number of cases doubles every week. There is a general agreement that governments need to act first to save lives. The first task, therefore, is to get manpower and money into hospitals. However, reducing the adverse impact of such drastic social distancing measures on their economies is also becoming a top priority. Economists around the world are therefore looking at policy mixes and recipes to reduce the economic impact of the pandemic. While the discussion often moves towards the macroeconomic impact of this pandemic, the COVID-19-induced economic slowdown is impacting the real economy, which is made up of businesses and the people that work for them. Countries do not buy or sell goods; people do. Small companies are more likely to suffer more than others in the private sector because they are inherently vulnerable. According to the ILO, as many as 24.7 million jobs are at risk. In the Bangladeshi garment sector alone, more than $ 2.7 billion in orders have been cancelled since the start of the year, resulting in the closure of thousands of factories putting four million workers at risk. Many SMEs throughout the world are currently facing severe threats to their continued viability owing to demand shocks, labour constraints and a shortage of available cargo routes. This slowdown according to economists is not a textbook slowdown. Lower rates will ease borrowing costs and improve business sentiment. Unfortunately, in this case, no amount of cheap credit can stop people from falling ill and dying by the pandemic. This explains why many stock markets failed to revive despite the interest rate cuts. So, it may be far better to help those affected directly until the pandemic ends. For most people, the priority now is food and paying for healthcare. While for most companies, the challenge will be liquidity. Easing the burden for them as long as the epidemic lasts will avoid bankruptcies and lay-offs. The coronavirus pandemic, on the other hand, has also enabled private, online and tech-based SMEs to emerge as potential winners by responding to the new normal.
Protecting SMEs
Recovery for SMEs will only begin once the health emergency is over, and containment of people comes to an end. Economic activity is likely to see a sharp rebound after that. The duration and depth of the crisis will depend on how far and fast the virus spreads, and how effective policymakers will be in mitigating the damage to their physical and economic health and well-being. The longer the crisis lasts, the more it is likely to disrupt the supply-side of the economy through crippled production networks and squeezed profit margins. Hopes of recovery will hinge on more sustained and coordinated liquidity injections by Central Banks, more active fiscal policies and by renewed efforts to strengthen free trade and foreign investment. SMEs cannot be understated in this recovery strategy to safeguard the current and future functioning of the global economy and the livelihoods of billions of workers throughout the world. For many debt-distressed developing countries already spending up to one half of government revenue on debt servicing, an immediate moratorium and a health-related grant are highly merited when a health emergency of this scale is prevalent because, for most governments, the priority must surely be to slow down the spread and lowering the peak. None of that will be easy because the virus’s trajectory is still unknown, as is the effectiveness of containment efforts, and consumers’ and firms’ reactions.
පසුගිය දින දෙකතුන ඇතුළත සොයා ගැණුනු කොරෝනා රෝගීන් සහ ඔවුන් කටයුතු කර ඇති ආකාරය සැලකිල්ලට ගැනීමේ දී මුස්ලිම් ප්රජාවෙහි ඇතැම් සාමාජිකයන් තමන් ගේ විදේශ ගමන්බිමන් පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු වසන් කරමින්, තමන් ගේ රෝගී තත්වයන් පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු වසන් කරමින්, තම ප්රජාව තුළ හා රට පුරා යමින්එමින් කටයුතු කර ඇති බව පැහැදිලි ය. පොදු යහපත වෙනුවෙන් අනුගමනය කළ යුතු වත්පිළිවෙත් ගැන, තම වගකීම් හා යුතුකම් ගැන කිසිඳු හැඟීමකින් තොර ව කටයුතු කර ඇති බව පැහැදිලි ය. සමස්ත රටේ ම දෙකෝටියකට අධික ජනතාව වෛරසය පාලනය කිරීම සඳහා සිදු කර ඇති කැපකිරීම් සියල්ල මේ වගකීම් විරහිත ක්රියාකාරකම් නිසා අපතේ යන තත්වයක් උද්ගතව ඇත.
මේ භයානක තත්වය හමුවේ පවා මුස්ලිම් ප්රජා නායකත්වය තම ප්රජාව ගෙන් සිදු කර ඇති විදේශ ගමන් පිළිබඳව, මතුව ඇති රෝග ලක්ෂණ පිළිබඳව, විදේශ ගතවූවන් හෝ රෝගීන් හෝ ඇසුරු කිරීම පිළිබඳව අදාළ සෞඛ්ය බලධාරීන් දැනුම්වත් කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටින බවක් දක්නට නැත. රෝග ලක්ෂණ මතු වූ විට තොරතුරු සඟවමින් තම ප්රජාව හා අවසානයේ සෞඛ්ය කාර්යමණ්ඩල පවා අනතුරට පත්වන ආකාරයට ක්රියා නොකරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටීමට බරපතල ලෙස මැදිගත්වීමක් දක්නට නැත. තම ප්රජාව දැනුම්වත් කරමින් ඔවුන්ව ද පොදුවේ සමස්ත සමාජය ද මේ උවදුරින් ගලවා ගැනීමට දායකත්වය සපයනවා වෙනුවට, මියයන තම භක්තිකයන් ගේ අවසන් කටයුතු පිළිබඳ අනවශ්ය හා නුසුදුසු මැදිගත්වීමක් කරමින් සිටිනු දක්නට තිබීම කණගාටුදායක ය. තම ප්රජාව ගේත් සමස්ත රට වැසියා ගේත් ජීවිත සුරක්ෂිත කරගැනීමට නොපමාව මැදිහත් වන ලෙස අපි මුස්ලිම් ප්රජා නායකත්වයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.
තමන් ගේ විදේශ ගමන් පිළිබඳ, තමන් ගේ රෝගී තත්වයන් පිළිබඳ, විදේශ ගතවූවන් නැතිනම් රෝගී වූවන් ඇසුරු කර තිබීම පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු වසන් කරන්නන් හට ඔවුන් ගේ ජනවර්ගය, අදහන ආගම, වෘත්තිය නැතිනම් සමාජ තත්වය, දේශපාලන පක්ෂපාතකම් යන කිසිවක් සැලකිල්ලට නොගෙන දැඩි දඬුවම් පමුණුවන ලෙස අපි රජයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.
යුතුකම ජාතික සංවිධානය වෙනුවෙන්,
ගෙවිඳු කුමාරතුංග
සභාපති
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said the government’s actions are invariably based on instructions of health officials, taking into consideration the wellbeing of all citizens, and added that the current situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could create difficulties to all, including Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics and others.
Speaking at the all-party representatives meeting at Temple Trees, Mr. Rajapaksa said this in response to the issue raised by representatives of Muslim political parties, who wished to explore the possibility of burying the bodies of those who succumb to COVID-19 instead of cremating the bodies. Health Services Director General Dr. Anil Jasinghe stressed it has been only three months since the COVID-19 virus has been identified and no proper information is available on the exact behaviour of the virus.
“There are various ways of the spread of the virus and health officials try their best to prevent it from spreading. The entirety of Sri Lanka should be considered when cremating the dead bodies. This is a sensitive issue but our focus should be the wellbeing of the entire community,” he said.
The COVID-19 cases tally in Sri Lanka has risen to 159 as three more patients tested positive for the virus at of 10.10 pm today (03).
Accordingly, a total of 8 coronavirus patients were found in the country during the course of the day.
The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, 131 patients are currently under medical care while 24 patients were discharged after making complete recoveries.
Four COVID-19 patients have succumbed to the deadly virus in Sri Lanka.
Four more individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka as of 9.00 pm today (03), bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 156.
According to the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, 128 patients are currently under medical care while 24 patients were discharged after recovering completely.
Four COVID-19 patients have succumbed to the deadly virus in Sri Lanka.
Police said that 289 individuals have been arrested for violating the curfew within six hours ending at 12 noon today (03).
A total of 70 vehicles have also been taken into custody during this time period.
The Police Media Unit said that the total arrests made so far for curfew violations stands at 11,019 and that 2,727 vehicles have also been taken into custody.
Sri Lanka Police had previously warned of strict legal action against people caught violating the countrywide curfew.
They will be immediately arrested, even without a warrant, and that police bail will not be granted for them, police said.
Police also noted that none of the vehicles taken into custody will be released back to their respective owners, until the prevailing Coronavirus threat is eliminated.
The government imposed an island-wide curfew with the intention of minimizing public movement in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in the country.
The International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of the World Bank Group agreed to provide financing assistance amounting to United States Dollars (USD) 128.6 million to the Sri Lankan effort to battle against Covid 19 outbreak.
These funds will be mobilized through the Government Budget during the period from 2020 to 2023, the Ministry of Finance said.
Signing of the agreements of Sri Lanka COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project took place today (April 03) at the Ministry of Finance and Mr. S R Attygalle, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Economic and Policy Development and Ms. Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, Country Director of the World Bank signed the agreements on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and the World Bank, respectively.
In response to the increasing COVID 19 incidence in the country, the Government of Sri Lanka has initiated urgent and effective measures to slow the spread of the virus by testing and treating patients, contact tracing of those found positive, limiting travel, mandatory quarantine for anyone coming from countries affected by COVID-19, closing borders to prevent transmission from further travellers, cancelling large gatherings and creating awareness.
The project will focus on limiting local transmission of COVID-19 by strengthening capacities of the health system for contact tracing, case finding, confirmation, reporting, and responding to surge capacity through trained and well-equipped health workers and medical officers of health and primary health doctors and equipped facilities, strengthening Surveillance and Response Systems, strengthening health care facilities capacity for emergency response, improving community engagement and risk communication and provision of social and financial support to households.
Further the project will support for the strengthening national and sub-national institutions for prevention and preparedness through strengthening the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), establishment and strengthening of subnational emergency operation centers, establishment of Bio-Safety Level (BSL) 3 laboratory facilities at the National Medical Research Institute (MRI) and strengthening laboratory facilities and information systems.
DIG Ajith Rohana has appealed to the people to remember the individuals they come into contact with when they are at a public place.
He stated this in a special statement on the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
If you proceed to a certain public place, especially in the Western Province, Puttalam, Kandy and Jaffna districts, please be aware of those who you come across.”
DIG Rohana also requested the public not to conceal information from medical officers, adding that it will help intelligence officers to trace the people who came into contact with the infected people and direct them to quarantine process.
Sky News’ Special Correspondent Stuart Ramsay travels to the heart of Europe’s coronavirus pandemic. In the city of Bergamo in Northern Italy he meets doctors fighting the illness that’s changing the entire world and witnesses the impact Covid-19 is having on people, infrastructure and the economy.
Short term performance of Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka has proved that he is a capable person to launch the country to achieve the aspirations of people. He has given strong leadership to control coronavirus pandemic and successfully coordinated the entire administration mechanism as a team leader of the country. This environment gives a signal that people can trust him without political, social, ethnic and religious differences and no point maintaining divisions or dividing the country. People need to unite with the president and give support to him giving a two-third majority at the next election to successfully launch the country to forward. When people watch reports in news media it shows the nature of a reasonably developed country as they show good buildings, houses and many other things. However, the reality may deviate from the show-off or news reports. In this environment policymakers need to focus a balanced growth idea throughout the country and in fact, rural communities are suffered from economic difficulties and economic enjoyment has gone to a limited group of people. How can change this situation?
The balanced growth could be applied from a different point of views and when it talks about the balanced growth it comes to our minds about theoretical arguments began from Ragnar Nurkse in the 20th century and Nurkse focused on the expanding the size of market and inter-industrial relationship. When it refers to Sri Lanka the views of Arthur Lewis may vital than extreme ideas of Nurkse as the determinants of the size of market are not an issue except the productivity of employees in both public and private sectors. Nurkse focused intersectoral balance as a limited area such as industrial and agricultural sectors and from the point of view of Sri Lanka intersectoral balance expand to geographical areas. The real picture is uneven growth results in the country and this situation needs to change into a reasonably even level would be a priority task of economic policymakers.
The productivity of employees compared to the salary and wage levels in the country seems many disparities in different organizations as well as in different sectors and policymakers need to identify and develop a parity to determine the expected productivity in various industries. When there is a standard productivity level individual institution can compare with own standards and could take management strategies to maintain productivity level. Productivity could be identified as a management-related problem. Many developed countries have developed productivity level for industries and individual organizations compare with the standards in the industry. Trade unions in Sri Lanka have no idea about the expected productivity level and the government needs to educate trade unions about productivity.
During wartime (1983-2009) a considerable volume of government spending directed to war efforts and after the recovery period also massive investments located to Colombo and suburbs and rural areas less regarded and this situation has created the disparity in development and growth. The government of Mahinda Rajapaksa attempted to reduce disparity focusing investments in rural area, however, the yahapalana regime failed to continue balance growth.
Sri Lanka is a small country and urbanization could expand to suburbs without harming investors’ expectations. Expanding education in rural areas could begin balanced growth in the country because it would support the concept of skilling the nation pushing job opportunities in rural areas. Education and training can change uneven growth creating an environment that encouraging more investments in rural level and reduce the difference of social status between rural and urban people.
When the government policy focuses on balanced growth, the market would be broadened as Nurkse stated and aggregate demand expands throughout the country
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), is one of the world’s most serious health and development challenges. Globally, approximately 75 million people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic in 1981. Today, there are about 40 million people living with HIV, and tens of millions of people have died of AIDS-related causes. HIV remains a leading cause of death worldwide and the leading cause of death globally among women of reproductive age.
Sub-Saharan Africa (Eastern Southern, Western and Central African countries), is the hardest-hit region, with more than two-thirds of all people living with HIV globally. This is basically is a collection of Muslim countries. Here, many people living with HIV or at risk for HIV infection do not have access to prevention, treatment, and care, and there is still no cure. HIV primarily affects those in their most productive years, and it not only affects the health of individuals, but also impacts households, communities, and the development and economic growth of nations. Many of the countries hardest hit by HIV also face serious challenges due to other infectious diseases, food insecurity, and additional global health and development problems.
Eastern and Southern Africa – 20.6 million (55% of the global total)
(newly infected total – 800,000
Western and Central Africa – 5 million (13% of total global)
(newly infected total- 280,000)
The Middle East and North Africa – 240,000 (newly infected – 20,000)
(Source: UNAIDS. AIDS info website, 2019
Two-thirds of children living with HIV (65%) are found in the Eastern and Southern African Region. The Middle East and North Africa region are one of the regions in the world where the number of AIDS-related deaths is increasing. Muslim World’s Heartless Indifference and Criminal Neglect of the plight of millions of Innocent Muslims in Africa dying of HIV-Aids. HIV-AIDS is killing people in the millions and is the greatest tragedy in the world today, especially in Africa. Millions are dying and tens of millions will die in the near future, the majority of who are Muslims. A continent is being destroyed, and where is the compassion and generosity of the rich and powerful international community who can help their fellow-being? The willful inattention of the rich international community, by the oil-rich Muslim world to what is happening to their own Muslim brothers and sisters, is amazing if not disgusting. This is heartless indifference and criminal neglect for the past decade during which time countless people have gone to their graves, people who were perhaps praying five times to Allah for a good and secure life on earth.
It is noteworthy that in Sri Lanka where Buddhists predominate (70% of the 20 million population), the number infected by HIV-AIDS is less than 0.1%, and the majority infected are non-Buddhists from Colombo.
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane
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