News
People in five districts advised to wear masks due to toxic air blowing from India
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Sri Lanka’s Central Environmental Authority (CEA) on Wednesday (17) advised people in five districts to wear masks due to the drop in air quality.
Media spokesman for the CEA, Ajith Weerasundara said that winds carrying polluted air from India had caused the drop in air quality.
He said it was better for residents of Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Mannar and Batticaloa districts to wear masks outside, especially the sick and the elderly.
“We continuously monitor air quality, and we have seen deterioration in the past few days. We are now at a level where the air quality can have some impact on human health, especially among the vulnerable,” he said.
Weerasundara said the air quality in Sri Lanka would probably improve following the change in wind patterns.
He said the country experiences this drop in air quality in December and January due to polluted winds blowing from the sub-continent.
News
Amendment of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No. 3 of 1897
Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No. 3 of 1897 is the principle law that regulates the prevention of the spread of communicable diseases and the implementation of quarantine measures.
However, at present, it has been observed that the risk of spreading communicable diseases across borders have significantly increased due to considerable increase in the
international and domestic movement of persons, goods, and services and frequent international travel and trade have led communicable diseases spread rapidly between countries.
Accordingly, although cabinet approval was granted in the 2016 to amend the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No. 3 of 1897, the relevant amendment bills have not been presented to Parliament.
Therefore, as per the proposal made by the Minister of Health and Mass Media, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the appointment of a Review Committee to study the amendment bill that has been prepared and propose suitable amendments to meet the current health challenges as well as challenges that may arise in the future, taking into consideration the experience obtained during the epidemic situations that have occurred in the past.
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The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President to make a donation of United States Dollars One million as humanitarian and economic relief to the government of Nepal
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Sun directly overhead Kalpitiya, Talawa, Sinharagama, Galkadawala, Nachchaduwa, Padikaramaduwa, Gomarankalla and Verugal about 12.10 noon today (01)
The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from 28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.
The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (01) are Kalpitiya, Talawa, Sinharagama, Galkadawala,
Nachchaduwa, Padikaramaduwa, Gomarankalla and Verugal about 12.10 noon.
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