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The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 21 new coronavirus-related deaths for December 28, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,944.

According to the figures released by the Government Information Department, the deaths reported today include 14 males and 07 females.

Seven of the patients are aged between 30-59 years. The remaining 14 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

Former minister Gunaratne Weerakoon died last night (24), aged 74.

His remains are being kept at a funeral parlour in Borella.

The funeral is due to take place tomorrow.

Weerakoon was elected to Parliament on the ticket of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 2004 and held several ministerial positions.

A currency swap agreement with China has assisted Sri Lanka to raise its foreign exchange reserves to around $3.1 billion, Reuters reports.

According to the agency, the reserves had been topped up after a $1.5 billion currency swap with the People’s Bank of China was finalized on Wednesday (29).

Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, said in a tweet on Wednesday (29) reserves has risen to around $3.1 billion and would remain at that level until year-end.

Subsequently, the CBSL confirmed the foreign support but did not specifically reference the Chinese swap arrangement. Cabraal has previously spoken about the swap with the PBOC.

“Foreign currency inflows in connection with several other facilities that are under negotiation at present, are expected to be realised in the early part of January 2022,” CBSL also said in a statement.

“The government and the central bank are confident that the reserve position will remain at comfortable levels throughout the year 2022,” it added.

Reuters, citing a source said that the swap was denominated in yuan but could be converted into dollars if needed.

Sri Lanka has to repay about $4.5 billion in debt in 2022 starting with a $500 million international sovereign bond maturing on January 18th.

The country has been looking to add to its reserves through various means including bilateral swaps and loans from other Governments and central banks, increasing remittances, curbing imports among other measures.

China is Sri Lanka’s largest source of import income and a key financier having lent over $5 billion for various infrastructure projects including ports, highways and a coal power plant over the past decade.

Fitch Ratings on December 18th downgraded Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating to ‘CC’ from ‘CCC’, citing a growing risk of debt default in 2022, despite central bank assurances that steps would be taken to meet all repayments.

Sri Lanka, in response said the “unwarranted and questionable rating actions” by certain rating agencies have caused “unnecessary” secondary market losses and undue delays in expected foreign currency inflows.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who left for India yesterday (23) on a private visit has visited Tirupati today. The Prime Minister's wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa and several others were present at the occasion.

According to Indian media reports, when the Prime Minister arrived at the Tirupati, there was tight security around the premises.

The confidential report on bus fare revisions will be handed over to the Transport Ministry Secretary today, a senior official said.

He told the Daily Mirror that the new bus fare structure would be announced by the Transport Minister tomorrow.

Vikum Athula Kaluarachchi was sworn in as a new Judge of the Court of Appeal on Friday (24) morning in the presence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He was appointed to the position left vacant following the retirement of Court of Appeal Justice Devika Abeyratne.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 22 more coronavirus-related deaths for December 27, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,923.

According to the figures released by the Government Information Department, the deaths reported today include 12 males and 10 females.

Six of the patients are between the ages of 30-59 years. Fifteen others are in the age group of 60 years and above and the remaining victim is aged below 30 years.

Lake Gregory has been emptied to build a jogging track, severely affecting the tourist boaters in the area, the Lake Gregory Tourist Boaters’ Association revealed.

They pointed out that it would be a great injustice to take such a measure during the festive season in the event that a large number of local and foreign tourists visiting the Nuwara Eliya area are enjoying the lake.

Lake Gregory is currently administered by the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council and was emptied yesterday (22).

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, people who used to work in the vicinity of Lake Gregory had not been able to earn any income for more than a year. Following the outbreak’s decline the place was restored with its recognition as a tourist hotspot, but the sudden decision to empty Lake Gregory has driven those working in the area to meet a new nightmare!

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 17 coronavirus related deaths for December 26, pushing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 14,901.

The deaths confirmed today include 11 males and 06 females while one of the deceased is below the age of 30 years.

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

Twenty-one deaths from the COVID-19 virus were reported today (23).

Of them, 14 were men and seven women.

Most of the fatalities were elderly people in their 60s and above.

The death toll has now risen to 14,832.

Railway stationmasters continue with their strike action after talks with their general manager failed today (27).

Citing several grievances, the Sri Lanka Station Masters’ Union resorted to union action four days ago.

As they stay away from issuing tickets, commuters are traveling without paying, losing income to the Railway Department.

The Department estimates the losses at Rs. five million a day.

Former Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry, Prof. Uditha K. Jayasinghe, who was axed from the post on Wednesday (22), hinted the reason behind his removal could be his educating people about a possible food crisis in the country next year.

Prof. Jayasinghe was removed from the post, days after warning about a possible food shortage in the coming year.

He once again raised concerns over the matter, speaking to the media today (23), adding that he is yet to be given a reason for his removal.

“Therefore, I do not know the exact reason as to why I was removed from the post. Also, I have not been informed about it officially as well,” he added.

“Everyone who has knowledge on the subject can understand that if the current situation in the country continues, a food shortage in the coming year is inevitable. We have to show the actual situation, so preparations could be made to avoid a food shortage. That was what I did in a simple manner. Policies of the Government cannot be violated by doing so,” he pointed out.

Speaking further, Prof. Jayasinghe said, “I have done research about the subject for several decades. If we cannot make a prediction after studying current data, what is the point of us having education about the subject for 30 years? The truth can hurt sometimes for those who try to hide the facts. But this is the reality. It is useless if we cannot inform the real situation to the public. The President also has instructed me that it is my responsibility to educate people. That was what I did.”

Moreover, Prof. Jayasinghe said he is sad about losing the post.

“It does not mean that I am wailing over losing the post. It is okay to lose the post if people are educated. I am sad because I sacrificed my expertise, time and efforts to do something good during the past few months. I did not even get a salary for the post. So I am sad about that,” he said.

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