Army Chief says DON’T HARASS TOURISTS

PIC BY WARUNA WANNIARACHCHI

BY SANDUN A. JAYASEKERA

Acting Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, Lt. General Shavendra Silva who is steering the fight against COVID-19, said last afternoon that on the instructions of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, a Sri Lankan air-plane was sent to India to airlift a group of Sri Lankan pilgrims yesterday.

All those brought from India will be sent for a spell of quarantine directly from the BIA, he added. Lt. General Silva lamented that he had information that some tourists occupying hotels in Colombo and elsewhere had been harassed by Sri Lankan guests and it was unacceptable as this type of action harms the image of Sri Lanka.

Addressing the media at the news briefing held at the ‘National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19’ at Rajagiriya, Mr. Silva said 2,287 individuals had undergone a spell of quarantine at 16 quarantine units established islandwide up to now, and that 21 of them were foreigners of which 19 of them had been infected. “One of the foreigners out of 1 9 infected was from the UK and the other 18 were from Italy. They have been sent for quarantine at Kandakadu where 26 quarantine units have been set up in 23 buildings. 90% of the infected arrive with fever or diagnosed for infection within 24 hours of arrival,” Lt. General Silva said. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed us to build a special quarantine centre for the Sri Lankan pilgrims airlifted from India. We are in the process of building them right now.

The Ministry of Defence was of the view in January that Sri Lanka would be needing quarantine facilities for about 4,000 and if so, we are ready,” he said. “Hundreds of others who arrived in the country were under self-quarantine at their homes under the guidance of the Health Ministry and protection of the Police,” he said. Major General Silva requested the public to refrain from playing cricket or engaging in any other sports where people gather for the time being, and also to remain home at every possible time.

Hundreds of others who arrived in the country were under self-quarantine at their homes under the guidance of the Health Ministry and protection of the Police