More than a thousand cases spark coronavirus alarm in garment factory Gampaha
More positive cases are being reported at the Brandix Minuwangoda plant. A curfew has been imposed on 17 police divisions in Gampaha district, Western province. Schools have been closed. Almost 4,500 cases have been reported in the country with 13 deaths. The situation is evolving but a generalised lockdown has been ruled out.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – The apparel industry has become a new spreader for the novel coronavirus, with the cluster at the Brandix Minuwangoda plant reporting a record number of cases.
In order to flatten the pandemic curve, a curfew was imposed on 17 police divisions in Gampaha district, Western province, where the plant is located and where most workers live. Local schools have suspended classes and extra-curricular activities.
The total number of cases at the Minuwangoda plant reached 1,022 in just three days, with 190 cases reported yesterday afternoon. The people who contracted the virus at the plant are currently in quarantine.
Sri Lanka has reported so far 4,459 cases with about 1,200 still active and 13 deaths.
According to chief epidemiologist Sudath Samaraweera, 729 cases were added in a single day, including five people who returned from abroad and tested positive in their places of origin: Pallekale, Warakapola, Alauwwa and Wilgamuwa.
Another nine who came into contact with people staying at the Habaraduwa quarantine centre tested positive.
“What we see is that this cluster is not limited to one area,” Dr Samaraweera explained. As a result, there is “a high risk of community transmission, so we have had to limit movement in several areas in the Gampaha district by enforcing a quarantine curfew,”.
The government has asked the plant’s staff and their families to stay home, whilst the military is preparing to move those who tested positive to quarantine centres and the sick to a hospital.
However, the authorities have excluded a generalised lockdown and closure for the whole country.
“The latest coronavirus situation in Sri Lanka is still evolving. A curfew or lockdown will be enforced in areas only where coronavirus patients are detected,” Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told Parliament.
Two days ago, a ban was imposed on large-scale meetings, conferences, parties, indoor and outdoor events, musical shows and processions, including religious ones.
On Monday, public and private schools were closed for the start of a second holiday break (originally set to begin on 9 October).
Catechism classes and Buddhist meetings and seminars were suspended in the Eastern, Western and North-Western provinces as well.
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29/08/2020 11:20
