Minister Devananda pledges to provide PCR machine to Vavuniya General Hospital

By Dinasena Ratugamage

District General Hospital Vavuniya, too, would be given a PCR testing machine soon, Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda said, on Thursday, in Vavuniya. He said that in the Northern Province only the Jaffna Teaching Hospital currently had a PCR machine.

At a meeting with health officials in Vavuniya, the Minister said that the number of COVID-19 positive cases was increasing in the North and the Jaffna Teaching Hospital alone couldn’t handle the PCR samples.

“Once the District General Hospital Vavuniya gets a PCR machine, we can test the samples obtained from Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu here. The machines at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and the Jaffna University can be used to test samples from Jaffna and Vavuniya.”

Minister Devananda, responding to a question posed by journalists, said that the impact of the sinking of the Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl would not affect the Northern fishermen.

“There are a number of fishermen who have been affected, in other areas. We are giving them a monthly allowance of Rs. 5,000 each, at first. Thereafter, they will be compensation, according to the findings of a study which is now underway.”