Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Friday, 20 March 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Strictly warning social media rumour mongers against creating unnecessary panic, Defence Ministry Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne yesterday requested all Sri Lankans, including those who
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Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne |
are living abroad, to support the Government’s efforts to contain the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Making a statement on measures taken by the Ministry to contain the COVID-19 situation, he said similar to the responsibilities held by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and all State institutions coming under Defence and other ministries, including the Tri-Forces and Police, all Sri Lankans were required to come forward to protect country’s population of 22 million people from COVID-19 and also act responsibly without inflicting an artificial fear among the public.
“This is similar to how the entire country got together to defeat terrorism in 2009. The Government needs the support of all citizens of Sir Lanka irrespective of their differences to face the coronavirus outbreak,” the Defence Ministry Secretary said.
He said as the Defence Ministry Secretary he could assure that all the required measures had been taken by the Tri-Forces, Police and all related intelligence agencies, which were working around the clock to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said the people who were directed to quarantine centres should not have any fear as it was done to control the spread of the virus and requested people to be in their own houses to undergo self-quarantine process, which was the best measure to contain the spreading of the virus.
“When a suspected coronavirus infected individual is identified, we direct them to a hospital such as the IDH and take all necessary measures to provide medical treatment. Taking precautionary measures will not end after admitting the patient to the hospital as we will find those who associated with the patients and, if we fail to trace their whereabouts, we will get the assistance of the intelligence agencies to track them to put them in self-quarantine process in their own houses,” he explained.
The Defence Ministry Secretary said the Police was issuing a sticker for the houses of those under self-quarantine for 14 days not to isolate them from society but to isolate them from others to prevent further spreading of COVID-19.
Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said the Tri-Forces personnel, who were committed and had stepped in to facilitate the 14-day quarantine process, were also given all the necessary protection gear to safeguard them from the virus as they were directly working with the patients.
Referring to Police curfew in certain parts of the island, the Defence Ministry Secretary said it was imposed not to create hardships for the people but as an effective measure to restrict unnecessary movements of a particular high risk area to mitigate spreading of COVID-19.
He said being a small nation Sri Lanka could be a good example to the world on how the country had mitigated the spreading of COVID-19, which had become a global pandemic.
The Defence Ministry Secretary warned rumour mongers not to post any false or misleading information and damaging posts on social media platforms related to the Government’s ongoing efforts to control COVID-19 as the intelligence agencies were strengthened and empowered to nab such irresponsible people or groups.
“Sri Lanka has set an example to the world on defeating terrorism 10 years back as all Sri Lankans, who yearned for a peaceful country, were united for a single cause. It is the time for us to be united again to defeat COVID-19 to set an example to the world,” he said, requesting more public assistance.
