Apr 27 (Island) Some zonal education directors and principals, in areas where the curfew was relaxed, were asking teachers and students to take part in various activities though the President had ordered that schools, and other educational institutions, remain closed, until further notice, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), Joseph Stalin said. "The govt has taken various steps to curb the spread of COVID-19. The presidential secretariat, on Saturday (25), more..

Apr 27 (AD) The results of the G.C.E. O/L Exam for the year 2019 were released earlier this evening. Department of Examinations has released statistics on the results of the applicants who sat for the examination. The total number of candidates who applied for the examination was 717,246 while 556,256 sat for the exam. As per the results, the percentage of students who qualify for the A/L exam is 73.84%, said Commissioner General of Examinations Sanath B. Pujitha. more..

Apr 27 (AD) Among the COVID-19 infected patients identified from Sri Lanka, 180 are Navy personnel, says Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva. Among them 112 have been identified from the Welisara Navy Base, said Silva. The other 68 officers had been reported while on leave in different areas, he added. Forty-four new cases were reported so far today (27) and all of them are navy personnel, the Director-General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe confirmed. more..

Apr 27 (DM) Former MP Ranjan Ramanayake, who sat for the 2019 GCE Ordinary Level examination, has got a 'C' for English. Ranjan Ramanayake said in his Facebook that he is now qualified to study law. In order to obtain the minimum requirement to study law, earlier, Ramanayake also sat for GCE A/L exam and obtained simple passes for political science and mass media while obtaining a distinction for general English and 50 marks for general knowledge. However, he had failed in Christianity. more..

Apr 27 (AD) Dr. Anil Jasinghe was inquired regarding reports circulation through social media on the importation of body bags for disposal of bodies of victims of COVID-19. He said that body bags weren’t unique products invented for COVID-19, but a tool that had been in use internationally for a long time. He said that body bags are used in disaster or emergency situations and pointed out that body bags were used during for the deceased in Easter Sunday terror attacks more..

Apr 27 (EN) SL Automobile Service Providers’ Association (SLASPA) has warned of up to a half a million job losses after paints and vehicle part imports were controlled, appealing to Prez Rajapaksa for relief. Jobs over 500,000 blue collar workers are under threat, the association said. “With temporary suspensions on importation of Auto Paints automobile workshops and paint technicians would lose their earnings and lose jobs and turn towards foreclosure within months” SLASPA said. more..

Apr 27 (AD) Three universities have prepared to set up laboratories to carry out the testing process to detect COVID-19 infections, said Dr. Anil Jasinghe. Uni of Peradeniya, Uni of Colombo and Uni of Kelaniya have submitted requests to support the testing process, said Jasinghe. It is also expected to involve several private hospitals in Colombo in carrying out the necessary Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to increase the number of tests carried out daily to detect infections. more..

Apr 27 (Hindu) The SAARC Secretariat should play an active role in the region’s response to COVID-19, along with someone in-charge, according to SL’s former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. “I don’t know if it can be handled from Kathmandu alone. If you can, well and good. But you may need another city. It can be Bengaluru, Colombo, any city,” he said on Friday. “This is a good time for a regional cooperation programme. more..

Apr 27 (Island) The JVP, yesterday, demanded to know, from the govt, the amount of funds allocated by it for the migrant workers’ welfare and benefits. Former JVP MP and convener of the Ethera Api organization, Sunil Handunnetti, said that the govt had received a huge amount of funds, as grants and loans, in view of the coronavirus crisis. In addition, the govt had maintained funds for the benefit of the migrant workers. "We demand to know how much has been allocated for their sake more..

Apr 27 (EN) SL’s military is giving back-up to the police and special task force because many police units have been deployed to help contact tracing efforts, army chief Shavendra Silva said. “The police and the Special Task Force are still in charge of security at the parliament,” General Silva said. “The army is giving support because the acting police chief asked for assistance. Many police units have been pulled from several areas to help public health inspectors to find contacts.” more..

Apr 27 (AD) Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the SL Army Lt Gen Shavendra Silva emphasized that no schools will be used as quarantine centers in the country. The army chief said such rumors had also been spread yesterday and several individuals had inquired from him regarding this too. However, commander said he can assure that there is absolutely no intention to use any school in the country as a quarantine center and that such a thing will never happen. more..

Apr 27 (EN) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has provided relief to the affected segments of Sri Lanka’s Cricketing community with the ‘Game of Cricket’ coming to a total halt due to the COVID–19 pandemic. Accordingly, the SLC Executive Committee had decided to grant its member clubs (ones, which maintain cricket grounds) a sum 100,000 Rupees, each, for the months of March and April 2020 to help upkeep the standards of the cricketing venues and infrastructure facilities. more..

Apr 27 (PMD) An All Night Pirith Chanting Ceremony was held yesterday (25) in the sacred city of Kataragama with the participation of President Rajapaksa to invoke blessings on the citizens and the country. President who visited Kataragama sacred city called on the Chief Incumbent of the Kiri Vehera Rajamaha Viharaya, Chief Sanga Nayaka of the Ruhuna Magampathtuwa, Most Venerable Kobawaka Dhammananda Thero. The Nayaka Thero commended the efforts taken by the Prez to combat the spread of more..

Apr 27 (AD) Four fresh cases of COVID-19 have been detected a short while ago adding to the total number of coronavirus cases in the country, says Ministry of Health. With the addition of new cases, 48 new cases have been reported as of 6.45 pm today. Accordingly, the tally of coronavirus cases in Sri Lanka has gone up to 571 cases. Total number of recoveries is 126 while 438 patients are currently under medical care. There have been 7 fatalities due to COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 28 (CT) SL’s shaky public finances are about to receive another blow from the fallout of the coronavirus. The first and most crucial aspect of an epidemic is always the human cost, but the spread of the virus has important repercussions for the economy. Studies indicate that epidemic disease impacts on a country’s economy through several channels, including the health, transportation, agricultural and tourism sectors. As borders are closed and global markets slow trade is impacted, so exports suffer. more..

Apr 28 (CT) The Coronavirus pandemic can be seen as a milestone in information transparency, more scientifically speaking the scientific transparency, in the research community. Despite the fact that a brief lapse of transparency of information occurred at the very beginning of the outbreak in China, a renaissance was experienced in accessing information related to the Coronavirus outbreak worldwide. Colossal datasets that comprise essential raw data and information covering various aspects of the disease more..

Apr 28 (TM) After Sri Lanka relaxed the police curfew that prevailed for over a month, except for capital Colombo and several other districts, last week, economic activities of those areas were recorded at a very slow pace as people chose to grab essentials and stay at home. Grocery shops, supermarkets, vegetable stores, pharmacies, and banks were seen to be busy engaging in business while the majority of other non-essential shops such as hardware stores, electric suppliers, more..

Apr 28 (CT) My late mother was a nurse. She was very beautiful and strong. She had 41 years of Govt service and reached the pinnacle of her profession before retirement and went abroad. Then she worked in Norway and Saudi Arabia for a few years. She returned home when we lost our elder sister due to an accident in Russia. Then for the next 20 years she worked in private hospitals in Sri Lanka (Nawaloka, Asiri, Central, Delmon in Colombo and Philips at Kalutara). more..

Apr 28 (DN) A 22-year-old SL law graduate became the first Islamic suicide terrorist a year ago in the predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka. He detonated an explosive-filled rucksack amid a crowd of Easter Sunday worshipers at a Catholic Church in the seaside town of Negombo, close to the country’s international airport. The explosion on April 21, 2019, at 8.25 am (local time) killed more than 50 people and wounded scores more. Within the next hour, multiple coordinated suicide attacks more..

Apr 28 (DM) News that Cabinet had approved a beach filling project along 4 km of the coastal belt from Angulana to Mt Lavinia, and 2 km in the Calido Beach, Kalutara has alarmed environmentalists and the public. The project stemmed from the erosion of 2 km of sand dunes near the Kalu Ganga river mouth and Calido Beach. The project is estimated to cost approximately Rs. 890 million and the contract has been more..

Apr 28 (CT) The recent spate of COVID-19 cases in the country is not linked to the masses, but to other sources. One way of solving this problem is to make the health authorities spearhead the campaign to arrest and subjugate this pandemic and not make other instruments who are used to a different type of an operation, to be at the fore. The fact the COVID-19 infected cases have increased and are not linked to the public is because after being sufficiently educated about this pandemic, more..

Apr 28 (DM) Health workers and the personnel of the three armed forces and the police who are engaged in fighting COVID-19 pandemic falling victims to the same disease is far serious than any other person catching the virus. They are the protectors of the people of the country at this juncture and it is unfortunate that around 180 navy personnel having contracted coronavirus by yesterday. The pathetic side of the story is that they are said to have caught the deadly virus more..

Apr 28 (ST) Many of them were there when the clock stopped at 8.45 that morning and their beloved church turned into rubble, with death, injury, weeping and mourning all around them. They stood still in shock around a blood-splattered organ…..but on Tuesday (21), a year later, their voices are raised in hope and prayer not in their beloved church but reverberating throughout homes in a YouTube video released sharp at 8.45 more..

Apr 28 (TM) In less than 12 months, our island nation had to confront two devastating phenomena – both of which came through cross-border transmission, invisible to the eye in any material form, yet causing devastation in incredible dimensions. Whether the source of the problems came in the form of ideology, capacity, or a medical virus, their impact had been severe. The origins of both the Easter Sunday bombings and the coronavirus pandemic have been outside more..

Apr 28 (Island) The rapid spread of Covid-19 has made the health authorities redouble their efforts to prevent it among the people, in congested areas, in cities and suburbs. They deserve praise for their work, which is physically and mentally draining, but it is said that not enough has been done to protect one of the most vulnerable segments of society—the prison population. The govt had better learn from the experience of other countries which boast modern prison systems that conform to int'l standards more..

Apr 28 (DM) Sri Lanka’s initial COVID-19 response was, by and large, a success. Immediately after the discovery of the first case, a Chinese tourist from Wuhan, the govt responded promptly. It set up a task force, sent an aircraft to evacuate the Sri Lankan students from Wuhan, and established a network of quarantine facilities where all arrivals from high-risk countries were self- isolated for 2-3 weeks. Military intelligence units undertook aggressive contact tracing. more..

Apr 28 (Island) In January this year, just two weeks after Chinese authorities identified a novel coronavirus from a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause in Wuhan City in China, there was a report from the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi). It stated that according to a new survey conducted by the WBTi, Sri Lanka ranked first among 97 countries globally on breastfeeding rate. The country achieved the first ever Green nation status in supporting breastfeeding mothers. more..

Apr 28 (TM) Forty-five days into most of the country’s workforce functioning remotely, some of the operations came to a grinding halt as the work just could not be carried out remotely. This has been the reality for many of the state-owned institutions, and having to get through to the govt officials too has proven to be a nightmare over the past few days. Prior to this situation, Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa had tasked the ICTA to roll out more..

Apr 28 (Island) Before everything else it is important to understand what happens during any respiratory infection caused by a respiratory virus. The virus enters the body, usually through the nose, mouth or even the eye. The virus next enters the inner body and does not manifest for a few days. This period is referred to as the incubation period. In the case of COVID-19, it is said to be one to six days with a maximum of 14 days. During the incubation period a battle takes place between the body & virus. more..

Apr 28 (ST) Many firms have made the shift to an entirely digital life. Digital meetings substitute physical ones and the group chat has to do for daily catch up. What’s more, virtual birthdays are the ‘now’ thing. For all the extra time spent online, telcos have announced some crisis- time offerings for data and call credit that’s required. Now companies are reorganising their workforce around virtual workplace models, using video-conferencing and other virtual collaboration tools. more..

Apr 28 (Reuters) “Emergency powers should not be a weapon govts can wield to quash dissent, control the population, and even perpetuate their time in power,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that denounced shootings and detentions without being specific. A top official from her office said about 80 countries have declared emergencies due to the new coronavirus, more..

Apr 28 (FT) The heads of churches under the National Christian Council of SL (NCCSL) have requested President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to revoke the order dissolving Parliament and postpone the General Election till Sept – Oct and avert the dangers of constitutional crisis that SL citizens can ill afford at this time. In the letter, the members of the Council said that it is important to bear in mind that the country needs an election that is free and fair and this requires a level playing field for more..

Apr 28 (Island) Given what we know about the new cases detected in the past two weeks, it was not justifiable to consider relaxing COVID control measures on Monday (27), including lifting the curfew in Colombo. This is a monumental and totally avoidable policy failure and an unmitigated fiasco. If accountability meant anything in this country, there would have been consequences for those involved in setting the health response. And to be absolutely clear, I do not mean the Prez, more..

Apr 28 (FT) Govt has stepped up efforts to secure global support for SL’s medium-term external debt, servicing of which will become challenging with the serious impact of COVID-19. Net foreign debt servicing for 2020 is around $ 4.4 billion and includes a bilateral and multilateral component worth around $ 2 billion and a $ 1 billion Int'l Sovereign Bond (ISB) payment due in October. According to Fitch Ratings, more..

Apr 28 (Island) The coronavirus lockdown may have hindered almost all sports action around the world but that has not prevented the technical officials of the track and field sports of the South Asian region from upgrading their knowledge as nearly 1000 officials take part in an online seminar. "It was a huge opportunity for technical officials under current circumstances and today’s session in particular was very fruitful," president of the Athletics Association of SL, General Palitha Fernando, said. more..

Apr 28 (DN) Chairman Employees Trust Fund Board Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne said that companies with flexible work arrangements had to rethink their performance measurement metrics. Wijeyeratne was speaking to the National Chamber of Commerce Youth Forum on the new flexible working arrangement trend in the nation on 25 April. Wijeyeratne said that given higher rates of digitization most government processes could still be operational. more..

Apr 28 (ST) Despite steady progress, the Govt’s mechanism to distribute relief to those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak continues to be dogged by accusations of poor planning and blatant political interference aimed at the upcoming parliamentary election. The main issues stem from the Rs 5000 one-time allowance that the Govt is paying households to mitigate the economic impact from COVID-19. more..

Apr 28 (CT) State Minister Dilum Amunugama has displayed the Government’s wanton disregard for life, said former UNP MP Eran Wickremaratne reacting angrily to remarks by the State Minister that going to the polling booth was the same as staying in a line to enter a supermarket. “Surviving COVID-19 is a matter of life and death for the ordinary civilian in Sri Lanka – what wanton disregard for life,” said Wickremaratne who was addressing a press conference on Monday (27). more..

Apr 28 (Island) CEO of Raigam Group Dr. Ravi Liyanage requested banks and other financial institutions to come to the economic recovery front line as businesses and entrepreneurs are experiencing unprecedented challenges from COVID-19. He said," It’s time the banks made a sacrifice to help the businesses and entrepreneurs pull through the present crisis". "When you take a look at the banks’ balance sheets, whatever problems there were in the economy more..