East West Properties (EWP) PLC has donated a sum of Rs 13 million to the Army and Sri Jayawardenapura General(SJG) Hospital to combat deadly COVID-19. The Wijesuriya family which holds the majority stake in the company made a donation of Rs 8.5 m to the Army Welfare Fund to help complete the conversion of a ward at the Mulleriywara District Hospital to treat Covid-19 patients. The company has also donated a PCR Detection System Machine worth Rs 4.5 Million to the SJG Hospital. The Hospital is a designated Government testing facility for COVID-19, however, it does not have a machine at the moment for testing. “with the help of Bharathi Wijeratne, Dr Naomali Amarasena, Cardiologist, Sri Jayewardenapura General Hospital and Dr. Janaki Abeynayake, Consultant Virologist at the Medical Research Institute (MRI), we were able to source a machine from Singapore that would allow for testing to begin at Sri Jayawardenapura General Hospital," EWP Director and Shareholder Anika Wijesuriya Jayawickreme said. "Our purchase of this machine will certainly help the intiative to test more of the general public.  Testing is an essential part of the fight against COVID-19 as low numbers don’t necessarily mean there are fewer cases, it may just be attributed to not enough testing.” Jayawickreme added that there was a dire need for more PCR Machines at the MRI, Teaching Hospital Karapitiya and Teaching Hospital Anurudhapura should companies in the private sector want to assist further in donating machines.