Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

For two weeks, no visas for people coming from Europe

Colombo, March 14 (newsin.asia) The Sri Lankan government has decided to study how China has been able to control the COVID-19 epidemic. This is one of the several decisions taken on by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at a meeting of top officials here on Friday to discuss measures to check the spread of the deadly virus.

At present, China has successfully controlled the spread of COVID-19. China had given high priority to manage the social behaviours in a way that contributed to the effective control of the disease. Officials were advised to study the methods extensively that China has practised in this regard, a Presidential press release said.

The President Gotabaya instructed officials to suspend issuing visa to people from European countries for 2 weeks. It has also been decided to quarantine every Sri Lankan arriving from Europe for 14 days.

It has been decided to restrict public gathering and functions to the maximum possible extent.

The President stressed the importance of using electronic, print and social media to educate people about the disease but not to create a state of social confusion

It has also been decided to disinfect buses and trains used for public transportation from Saturday. The security forces will provide assistance in this regard.

President said to establish the task Force at a permanent location and take decisions following gathering of information. Steps have also been taken with the assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO) to expedite the diagnosis process, President observed

The progress of the investigations launched to identify people who were in contact with the two COVID – 19 patients who are currently undergoing medical treatments at Infectious Diseases Hospital and their quarantine process were discussed in detail. President issued directives to inquire about the places they visited and people they associated with and guide them for quarantine process.

It has been decided to restrict public gathering and functions to the maximum possible extent.

President said to establish the task Force at a permanent location and take decisions following gathering of information. Steps have also been taken with the assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO) to expedite the diagnosis process, President observed.

President Rajapaksa said that the WHO agreed to extend its cooperation towards the continuation of measures already taken by Sri Lanka to thwart further spreading of the disease.

During the meeting, the attention was drawn to regulate the distribution process of face masks in a manner that it could be purchased from anywhere. The President also advised the officials to facilitate the purchase of face masks at a controlled price. It was noted at the discussion that the firms, which can make 150,000 face masks daily, have been identified.