News
Dr. Malik suggests burying COVID -19 victims in impermeable wrapping
By M.A. Kaleel
The claim that the burial of dead bodies of COVID-19 victims could lead to the spread of coronavirus is nonscientific, says Professor Malik Peiris, a world renowned Pathologist and Virologist, currently serving as the Chair Professor of the Department of Virology at the University of Hong Kong. He is also one of the leading scientists who discovered the virus that causes SARS.
Dr Peiris told The Island: “The answer is simple. Viruses can only replicate in living cells unlike certain bacteria like Ebola. Viruses by definition require living cells to replicate. Once a person has died and the cells in his body have died the virus will die. This is the first reason.
“The second reason is the infectious period. The period before the onset of clinical symptoms and the 4-5 days after the onset of clinical symptoms is highly infectious. It is very unlikely that a person will die soon after getting the symptoms. He may die one or two weeks after the symptoms have developed. During this period the chance of infection is very low, and with the development of antibodies it is much lower.
“You are not going to bury the dead bodies right in running water. When you bury the body six feet down wrapped in impermeable wrapping, it is very safe. If there is a residual infectious virus by any remote chance, for it to filter through many feet of soil and get into water and survive it is very remote.
“Therefore, the transmission of Coronavirus from burial is extremely unlikely. I’m very familiar with this business of burial,” he said.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
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M/s South Asian Technologies awarded contract to supply vehicle number plates
A new act for National Lotteries Board to be introduced
Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 to be amended
Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala appointed to the post of Surveyor General
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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