The Health Ministry today issued a series of special guidelines to all the traders and consumers who are visiting the Economic Centers around the country.

They said the guidelines were issued as per advise of Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi to the 16 economic centres across the country.  

The decision was taken after a special meeting held at the Ministry today to brief the managers of economic centres islandwide on the current COVID-19 pandemic.

They were advised as to how they could safeguard themselves from the virus.

“A large quantity of goods are being brought from many parts of the country to the economic centres. As the result of that, there is a potential risk of the deadly virus spreading to the whole country through these economic centres,” the Minister said. 

Immediate steps must be taken to ensure that these activities are carried out in accordance with strict health care practices, she said.

The minister requested all economic centre managers to implement and monitor the following set of guidelines.

• Draw a unique plan for each economic centre in order to  control COVID-19. 
• Appointing an officer to oversee the implementation of those plans. 
• Maintenaning the Economic Centre premises on a regular basis.
• Educating the people who visit the Economic Centre not to consume food / smoke / spit betel in the premises.
• Guide the visitors to maintain physical distance.
• Proper disposal of garbage.
• Direct the visitors to undergo PCR tests.
• Provide hand washing facilities for the visitors who come to the Economic Centre etc. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)