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Covid-19: Govt. to increase treatment centres

17 Dec 2020

The Ministry of Health has decided to take over hospitals with relatively higher patient capacity and expeditiously convert them into Covid-19 treatment centres, as daily infections continue to surge across the country. The decision was reached during a meeting of the Task Force on Covid-19 prevention held yesterday (16) at the Ministry. Secretaries to State Ministries Dr. Amal Harsha and K.R. Uduwawala as well as Additional Secretaries Dr. Sunil Alwis and Dr. Lakshmi Somatunga were present at the meeting chaired by Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi. In the wake of the prevailing Covid-19 situation, 500-600 new positive cases are being reported daily islandwide, while approximately 500 patients make complete recoveries, the officials revealed during the meeting. Thereby, the Health Minister’s focus fell on expediting the establishment of Covid-19 treatment centres to enable medical care for the increasing number of infected persons. The officials hence decided that the Ministry should take over the hospitals with more treatment capacity in order to convert them as medical care facilities for Covid-19. The required funds for this purpose will be allocated by the Health Ministry, while additional funds are expected to be sought from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB). It was further revealed that nearly 14,000 PCR tests and 3,000 rapid antigen tests are being carried out daily in all districts. Wanniarachchi also paid attention to the measures taken to ensure the safety of health sector workers, including hospital staff, medical officers of health (MOHs), and public health inspectors (PHIs), according to the Ministry’s media release. Secretary to the Ministry of Health Dr. Sanjeewa Munasighe has been directed to provide them with the necessary facilities including transportation and medical equipment.


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