Suspected coronavirus cases have increased to four following the admission of two more individuals to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Colombo. Among the first two cases reported yesterday (25), was a Chinese national and a Sri Lankan, hospital officials told The Sunday Morning. “The patient (Chinese national) was on tour in Ahangama with a group and had fallen sick and was brought into our hospital by the tour operator on Saturday morning. At the time of admission, the patient was showing symptoms seen in coronavirus and is currently placed under observation. We are running tests to determine whether the patient is infected with coronavirus,” IDH Director Dr. Hasitha Attanayake said. The Sri Lankan national, who was studying in China and returned to the country, was admitted at IDH on Friday (24). The hospital suspects she might be infected with coronavirus. Meanwhile, Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) installed three infrared thermal imaging scanners last week to screen passengers arriving at the airport as a safety measure to monitor possible coronavirus carriers entering the country. Accordingly, arriving passengers, on suspicion, will be screened and onboard announcements would be made in all the inbound flights to Sri Lanka requesting the passengers who have visited and transiting from China to report to the BIA Health Desk before the immigration process. “If any individual arriving in Sri Lanka is identified with symptoms indicating coronavirus, such as high fever, cough, and cold, they will be screened at the airport premises. The diagnosed patients will be isolated and treated at the Infectious Diseases Hospital,” Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. Chairman Maj. Gen. (Retd.) G.A. Chandrasiri told The Sunday Morning. Chandrasiri stated that BIA had taken all the precautions to contain the virus and BIA officials had been educated and directed by the Ministry of Health to take necessary action to detect and isolate the infected cases on arrival. Meanwhile, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in China, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Colombo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hubei Province, is providing necessary advice to Sri Lankan students in Wuhan to protect them from infection. The students have been advised to adhere to precautionary instructions given by the local health authorities. Since Wuhan city is closed down, no one can exit or enter it. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday (25) directed the Foreign Secretary and SriLankan Airlines to take steps to bring back all Sri Lankan students in Wuhan. Initially, there were around 85 Sri Lankan students in the Hubei Province. However, most of them had returned to Sri Lanka for the holidays before the outbreak of coronavirus. In the event of a necessity for evacuation, the Embassy, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Colombo and other government agencies, is making preparations for the students and their family members numbering 30. The Embassy in China and the Consulate Generals in Shanghai and Guangzhou are making co-ordinated efforts to provide necessary information to Sri Lankans around China.