President discusses resuming normal life at provincial level soon - PMD

• Decisions to relax current restrictions would be taken only after considering the health situation at each provincial level

 The possibility of immediate resumption of day-to-day economic activities at provincial levels in order to safeguard the national economy was explored at a meeting chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday, the President’s Media Division said. 

The PMD said several health sector representatives including Provincial Directors of Health briefed the President on current situation in the country at the meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat. “ The President instructed the Provincial Health Directors to make necessary recommendations required to maintain normal activities in the industrial, agricultural and business sectors through the Director General of Health. Decisions to relax current restrictions would be taken only after considering the health situation at each provincial level. One of the main objectives is to pay a special attention to the livelihood of daily wage workers. Individuals who are infected with Coronavirus in each province, the people whom they have associated with and the current quarantine process were some of the topics discussed. Attention was also paid to the system of identifying infected people on daily basis. The President also inquired about the present conditions at quarantine centres and the changes that needed to be made. The provincial health authorities said that measures taken by the government to combat coronavirus was effective compared to the rest of the world. President Rajapaksa said that this prevailing situation also provides an opportunity to assess the current situation as well as to pay attention to the steps that should be taken to improve the strategy,” the PMD said. 

Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundara, Principal Advisor to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Bhadrani Jayawardena, Chief of Defence Staff and Army Commander Shavendra Silva, Commander of the Navy Piyal de Silva, Commander of the Air Force Sumangala Dias, Acting IGP C. D. Wickremaratne and Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe attended the meeting.