COLOMBO, January 2020: With large numbers of Chinese workers employed at construction sites and hundreds of Sri Lankans having returned or planning to return soon from China, the government is not taking any chances as it steps up its battle against the fast-spreading coronavirus by adopting a number of measures islandwide, especially since the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a global health emergency following clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the disease in China and several other countries.
International broadcasters are reporting that nearly 10,000 confirmed cases have been reported worldwide with 213 deaths. A CNN report said 9,700 cases are in China, mostly in Hubei Province where the epicentre of the outbreak, Wuhan is located. In Sri Lanka, 16 people suspected of having contracted the coronavirus are under observation in several government hospitals and up to now there has been only one case that has tested positive.
Special flight brings home stranded Sri Lankan students
A special SriLankan Airlines flight has returned home with 33 remaining students in Wuhan after the Chinese government expedited the request made by Sri Lanka to allow the evacuation of Sri Lankan students and their family members. The Sri Lankan students have now been taken to the Diyatalawa Army camp. The students were airlifted out of Wuhan by the Sr
iLankan Airlines flight that was given permission to land in Wuhan by Chinese authorities. Since the outbreak of coronavirus Wuhan had been placed under lock down with all entry and exit points closed to prevent movement of people.
The students who arrived from Wuhan have been screened at key stages of their journey including on arrival in Sri Lanka and taken from a separate passenger terminal directly to the Diyathalawa camp. The students will be quarantined at the military base in Diyathalawa for two weeks at 33 specially built isolated rooms that are equipped with attached bathrooms and will be under the supervision of doctors round the clock. If any student show symptoms of the virus, he or she will be immediately transferred to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Angoda.
Sri Lanka has already evacuated 627 students from different areas of China. Another 204 students remain in China. SriLankan Airlines still flies to several destinations in China. An estimated 864 Sri Lankans, mostly students and their families were living in China before the coronavirus was detected, and since then over 600 persons have returned to the island.
The Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing, together with the Sri Lanka Consulate General offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou in China have facilitated travel to Sri Lanka on the regular SriLankan Airlines flights operating to Beijing, Shanghai and Canton with 50% discount on the regular rates. Through discussions with Air China and China Eastern Airlines discounts of 40% – 50% have also been secured.
Airlines around the world are suspending or reducing flights to mainland China as governments advise against travel to the region in an effort to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. A number of airlines including United Airlines, British Airways, South Korea’s Air Seoul and Air Canada have cancelled, suspended or rescheduled their flights to mainland China due to deepening fears over the spread of the coronavirus, according to foreign media reports. Other carriers have said they were also adjusting schedules as companies reassessed the risk of travel to China. South Korean budget carrier Air Seoul said it would halt all flights to China while Taiwan’s China Airlines rescheduled and have cancelled some flights to China until February 10. Taiwan’s Eva Airways Corp also said some flights to China may be cancelled. Air Canada said it was cancelling some of its 33 weekly flights to China and Germany’s Lufthansa has subdued bookings to and from the country. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific said it would be progressively reducing capacity to and from mainland China by 50 % or more from January 30 to the end of March, in line with a government directive as well as market demand. China’s Aviation Authority has also approved chartered flights to bring home from overseas trips some residents of the central city of Wuhan. However, the aviation authority has asked airlines not to stop healthy Wuhan residents from boarding flights.
Chinese tourists screened at all entry and exit points
The Health Ministry has informed Parliament that tourists visiting Sri Lanka, especially Chinese nationals were being closely monitored through a new software developed by a group of doctors in collaboration with the Information and Communication Technology Agency that would monitor and maintain details of places of visits and lodgings of the visiting tourists. Special security arrangements have been made at all international airports, as well as at the Colombo, Galle and Trincomalee harbours. Health Services Director General Anil Jasinghe said that Chinese tourists were being screened at the airport, and there will also be a follow-up of the condition of these tourists as it took two weeks to develop symptoms.
The Health Ministry has informed regional Medical Officers of Health, Medical Directors, epidemiologists to check on Chinese employees working in construction sites countrywide to determine whether any of them is infected with the coronavirus with relevant medical officers instructed to take prompt measures to hospitalize any employee, who is found infected with coronavirus. Twelve Hospitals throughout the country have been prepared to handle any suspected cases of coronavirus.
With high demand for face masks, the Health Ministry has set a maximum retail price of Rs.15 for disposable face masks and a price of Rs.150 for N95 respirators, amid media reports that traders were exploiting the situation to sell the masks at inflated prices. The Health Ministry also warned that legal action will be taken against traders found to be selling masks above the new maximum retail price as well as those found to be hoarding face masks. The Sri Lankan government has appealed to the public to be not deceived by false information on social media, and there was neither any need to panic at this stage nor buy and wear a face mask.
The Education Ministry has issued a set of guidelines to protect schoolchildren from infection and advised all Provincials, Zonal and all Divisional Education Directors and Principals of National Schools to ensure the safety of all schoolchildren. The Education Ministry said all safety measures including guidelines on how to deal with students who show symptoms, have been compiled with the assistance of health experts. Accordingly, the students were advised to keep their hands clean by using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Cover the mouth and nose with tissue papers and handkerchiefs or sneeze into their elbow. Avoid catching someone else’s cold or flu and avoiding germs that spread. Be sure to dispose of used tissue paper hygienically. Avoid touching the mouth, eyes and nose too often.
Secretary to the Ministry of Education N.H.M. Chithrananda also said there was no decision taken by the ministry to close schools or cancel sports meets and informed school principals to carry out the school activities as usual to avoid giving the wring impression that the situation has worsened in the country.
China reassures Sri Lankans
Local newspapers also reported that Chinese officials have raised concerns with the Sri Lankan government over some incidents of discrimination faced by Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka, with social media posts highlighting that Chinese nationals were being turned away from public areas such as restaurants, hotels, hospitals, spas and supermarkets by locals who were worried that they may be carrying the coronavirus.
The Chinese Embassy in Colombo said in a statement that Chinese authorities have the confidence and the capacity to contain and overcome the epidemic, and that there was no need for Sri Lankans to fear the Chinese visitor.
“It is believed that there is no need for the Sri Lankan public to fear the in-coming Chinese nationals after the Chinese lunar New Year holidays as all exit and entry channels to Wuhan have been temporarily closed and it is impossible for local people to travel to other places including Sri Lanka”.
The Chinese Embassy has advised Chinese companies having employees from the Hubei Province to cancel their plans of getting them back to Sri Lanka, and those from other provinces and cities to quarantine themselves for at least 14 days after arriving in Sri Lanka. Chinese authorities have halted all outbound group travels and have imposed strict examination and fever-detecting measures at all airports and transport hubs where suspicious cases could be found.
Earlier, Ambassador to China in Colombo Cheng Xueyuan had called on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees and assured the safety of Sri Lankan students studying in Wuhan Province, China. Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan expressed optimism that the Government of China is confident of bringing the outbreak under control and ensuring that life in Wuhan Province returns to normalcy very soon. The Prime Minister’s Office quoted Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan as saying that the Chinese Government is taking every measure to contain the health crisis and meet the needs of the Sri Lankan students and families in Wuhan.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa informed the Ambassador that he has made an appeal to the general public in Sri Lanka – particularly the media – to act responsibly when sharing information about the coronavirus. He further added that Chinese nationals who are living in Sri Lanka should have no concerns in carrying out their day-to-day lives.
Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has stressed the need to sustain the tourism industry in the aftermath of the global health crisis at a meeting with Ministers and officials from the Ministries of Health, Foreign Relations, Tourism and Higher Education in Colombo. He also asked health authorities to seek a cure for the coronavirus disease from Sri Lankan experts in indigenous and western medicine, and commended the team as the first coronavirus victim identified in Sri Lanka is now in stable condition. A statement from the Presidential Secretariat said that Sri Lankan doctors were capable of preventing the spread of the disease.
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is currently on rapid revival mode, following the Easter Sunday attacks in April 2019. Driven by the sheer size of its population China is one of the main source markets for many popular tourism destinations including Sri Lanka with tourism authorities last year having planned to attract one million Chinese arrivals to the island in 2020. Last year Sri Lanka welcomed 167,863 Chinese tourists compared to 265,965 in 2018. However, according to local media reports, the daily Chinese arrivals in the country has dropped sharply from an average 1,300 to a mere 100 Chinese visitors since January 28, following the coronavirus crisis.
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the declaration of a global health emergency “is not a vote of no-confidence in China.”
“On the contrary, the WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak.” “The declaration comes now, he said, because of fears that the coronavirus may reach countries with weak health care systems, where it could run amok, potentially infecting millions of people and killing thousands.”
In addition to China, the virus has been identified in several other countries including Australia, Canada, Cambodia, England, France, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States and Vietnam.
