24 September 2021 03:02 am Views - 4944
There were no moves to create an artificial decline in COVID cases in order to get Sri Lanka removed from the ‘red list', Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardane said.
Addressing a news briefing, he vehemently dismissed reports, which say that Sri Lanka reduced the number of PCR tests to create an artificial drop in cases so that it could be removed from the red list.
"A country is not removed from the red list only considering the number of infections. There are other yardsticks based on which a country is removed from the red list,” he underscored.
“Transmission has slightly slowed in the community resulting in fewer admissions to hospitals, which is why there is a decline in COVID cases,” Health DG stressed.
The UK government announced on Saturday (18) that Sri Lanka would be removed from the red list of that country with effect from Wednesday (22).
Sri Lanka has been on the red list since June 8, as part of a group of countries the UK government has defined as particularly high-risk for new and emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. (Sheain Fernandopulle)