Colombo Prime Minister: Unjustified panic, Covid-19 is under control

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the current health situation does not justify a full lockdown. There are 2,687 cases of contagion in the country; estimated ten dead. Authority: The spread of the coronavirus has been stopped. Public health inspectors go on strike: they want legal protection to deal with the pandemic emergency.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa maintians that the Covid-19 pandemic is under control. On 16 July, in a meeting with the media, the former Sri Lankan president (brother of the current leader of the Gotabaya nation) said that panic is unjustified. "Based on the current health situation  - he added - there is no need for a full lockdown."

World Health Organization data puts cases of contagion in Sri Lanka at 2,687 with 11 dead. The prime minister has accused the opposition of spreading lies about the health situation to obtain electoral advantages.

At the same press conference, Anil Jasinghe, director general of the Health Service,claimed that the spread of coronavirus has been stopped. He stressed that all cases related to the Kandakadu rehabilitation center - a recent outbreak of infection in the country - have been identified and isolated: "Only 25 people who left the facility were positive; another 20 in contact with them were immediately placed in quarantine ".

Dr. Jasinghe said that the authorities imposed restrictive measures only in the Rajanganaya area, and 1,400 diagnostic tests are conducted daily. While appreciating the efforts of the health authorities, Anurudda Padeniya, president of the Association of Public Health Officers, asked that at least 4,000 tests be performed daily.

While the government calls the population to calm, public health inspectors decided yesterday to go on strike, stopping anti-Covid-19 health checks. Phiusl, the trade union, asks that its members be assured of the legal tools to carry out their work properly.

• sri lanka
• colombo
• gotabaya
• mahinda
• rajapaksa
• virus
• coronavirus
• covid-19
• pandemic
• lockdown
• restrictions
• deaths
• victims
• contagions