Health officials in the Badulla District had raised objections over the government’s decision to transfer students arriving from China and people infected with coronavirus to Diyatalawa Army camp.

Badulla District Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) President Palitha Rajapaksa said on Tuesday that they were doubtful on what basis the students and coronavirus infected people are brought to Diyatalawa Army camp.

He told a news conference that if people brought to Diyatalawa Army camp fell sick there, even the Badulla Hospital was not equipped with adequate facilities to treat such cases.

“In such a case, the patients will have to be taken back to Colombo for observations and necessary treatment,” he said.

Dr. Rajapaksa said doctors and healthcare staff at the Diyatalawa camp were not sufficient to curtail the spreading of an epidemic such as this, and added that authorities should take steps to prevent issues which might arise by bringing infected people from one end of the country to another where people live without serious health issues.(Prasanna Padmasiri)