News

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 32 new coronavirus-related deaths for January 31, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,473.

This includes 15 males and 17 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Nine of the victims were in the age group of 30-59 years. The remaining 23 virus-infected people were aged 60 years and above.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has tested positive for COVID-19, Parliament sources confirmed.

Abeywardena is the latest victim of the fast developing Parliament COVID cluster, with SLPP MP Akila Ellawala testing positive earlier this morning, and state ministers Dilum Amunugama and Jayantha Samaraweera having tested positive on Tuesday (25).

Previously, MPs Rohini Kaviratne, Amarakeerthi Athukorala, Kokila Gunawardena, Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda, Sarathi Dushantha Mithrapala, Shanakiyan Rasamanickam and minister Sarath Weerasekara tested positive for the coronavirus.

Minister Prasanna Ranatunga denies any involvement in the egg-throwing at the vehicle of JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Vehemently rejecting the allegations against him over the incident, Ranatunga says he strongly condemns it as the SLPP leader for Gampaha district.

He is calling for a comprehensive investigation in order to bring those responsible to book.

Eggs were thrown at Dissanayake’s vehicle by a group of persons as he arrived at a JVP convention in Kalagedihena yesterday (30).

Party activists captured two of the assailants and handed them over to the Nittambuwa police.

Sri Lanka Customs detected 16,000 kilograms of beetroot concealed inside two refrigerated freight containers in Colombo on Friday (29).

The stock of beetroot was imported to Sri Lanka illegally from Pakistan under the guise of importing potatoes.

Customs Spokesperson said the detection was made at the Customs Yard (Gray-Line 2) in Colombo and the stock was seized for further investigations.

Importers had declared to Sri Lanka Customs that the cargo comprised 53,000 kilograms of potatoes, however, upon inspection only around 44,000 kilograms of potatoes were discovered.

Officials said the value of the illegally imported beetroot is valued at over Rs. 3 Million.

Recently, traders from Colombo alleged that imported Beet Root was flooding the local markets at a time when authorities have not granted permission to import Beet Root to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Plant Quarantine Service has only granted permission to SriLankan Catering to import fresh vegetables, and NOT to any other establishment.

Sri Lanka Customs said that the Wattala-based importer has listed an Indian Company as the exporter, however, further inspection revealed that the stock of beetroot actually originated from Karachi, Pakistan.

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Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power Gamini Lokuge has assured there would be NO power cuts until April 2022, following a special meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday (31).

The Minister said from Tuesday (1) 270 MW of electricity will be added to the grid from the Norochcholai Power Plant, and fuel is being delivered to the other power plants in Kelanithissa, Sapugaskanna, and the Barge-mounted power plant, and therefore, there will be no issue in supplying electricity.

The Minister said authorities will prepare an electricity generation plan until April 2022, and hydro-power generation will have to drop as water needs to be released for irrigation and agriculture purposes.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 17 coronavirus related deaths for January 27, increasing the death toll in Sri Lanka due to the virus to 15,386.

This figure includes 10 males and 07 female patients while one of the victims is below the age of 30 years.

Six of the deceased are between the ages 30-59 years while the other 10 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

Minister of Power Gamini Lokuge says that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) would be able to directly purchase fuel through the Indian Oil Company (IOC) tomorrow and the day after.

He said a decision is expected to be taken tomorrow regarding the fuel required by the CEB for next week.

He also said that a program will be launched to obtain electricity from private power plants in the short term.

Speaking further, Minister Lokuge said that for now the CEB is receiving fuel supplies and that from Monday they have to find a way to obtain fuel for the next week. He said discussions have been held with IOC for this purpose.

He said that are working on maintaining the power supply without any disruptions as per the instructions of the President.

The minister expressed hope they would be able to obtain fuel from IOC and said this is being discussed with the Finance Ministry.

Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has updated the guidelines on dealing with COVID-19 cases and their close contacts.

Thus, a person who has been fully vaccinated should not be subjected to home quarantine if they have no symptoms, even if they are Tier-One Close Contacts of an infected person.

They can carry out their daily activities according to the new normal lifestyle and a rapid antigen or PCR test is sufficient only if any symptoms occur.

Only the following groups are considered to have been fully vaccinated.

If you are over 20 years of age, you should have taken both doses and should have completed more than two weeks since the second dose. If one has passed over three months after taking the second dose, a booster dose is mandatory.

Also, according to the new guidelines, if you become infected after the second dose, a month’s gap from the date of infection is sufficient to receive the booster dose.

Children between the ages of 16-19 are considered to be fully vaccinated after obtaining both doses, and completing two weeks since the second dose.

Children between the ages of 12 and 15 are considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving one dose.

All those who are not fully vaccinated and are considered as Tier-One Close Contacts will be required to undergo home quarantine for 7 days and will be referred for testing if symptoms occur.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 20 coronavirus related deaths for January 29, pushing the country’s death toll from the virus since the start of the pandemic to 15,420.

This includes 13 males and 07 female patients while surprisingly 03 of the victims, two males and a female, are below the age of 30 years.

Five are between the ages 30-59 years while the other 12 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

A Sri Lankan security guard at a residential compound in the Al Waab area of Doha, Qatar was shot dead yesterday (26) by a youth, Doha News reports.

The shooter was a young Qatari man who attempted to enter the compound, together with a female passenger in the same vehicle.

He was denied entry by the security guard for not presenting his ID.

He had then driven away from the compound before returning to shoot the security guard.

According to witnesses, the Sri Lankan and his colleague were shot more than once, and the former died at the scene.

The other security guard was rushed to hospital.

Police arrested the gunman almost immediately after the attack and he has now been referred to the public prosecutor’s office.

The gun used by him was unlicensed and an investigation is underway into how he obtained the weapon.

According to the compound’s residents, the deceased was a father of three and was due to return to Sri Lanka later this year, as his contract was coming to an end.

The local community is raising money to support the victim’s family.

The Consumer Affairs Authority on Saturday (29) issued a gazette notification removing the Maximum Retail Price imposed for water bottles.

Meanwhile, authorities at reservoirs recently warned of an impending water shortage due to the water at reservoirs being utilized for energy generation.

Sri Lanka’s Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa stated that the Prime Minister has undergone surgery.

“The PM was to attend an event in Gampola, but was unable to attend due to a surgery,” he told a gathering on Thursday (27).