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Five to ten workers in every garment factory test positive for Covid-19 daily – activist

Published

5 years ago

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By Rathindra Kuruwita

 About five to ten workers tested positive for COVID-19 every day at every garment factory, Chamila Thushari of the Dabindu Collective that works on garment factory workers’ rights told The Island yesterday

She said that though garment factories remained open during the lockdown, a significant number of COVID infections had been detected in them.

“Politicians and business leaders insist that garment factories need to remain open to keep the economy going. This is true, we earn a lot of foreign revenue for the country. Recently, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said that the value of textile and garment exports increased by 28% year-on-year to $2.5 billion in January to June 2021. The companies also increased profits in 2020 as well. However, the garment workers are compelled to operate in an unsafe environment,” she said.

Thushari said that during the first wave of COVID-19 the factory owners, for the most part, had followed health guidelines. ” Only 50% of the workforce was brought in. However, since then the situation has changed.

“Disinfection of factory premises is not taking place. Workers are not given surgical masks and they have been forced to wear cloth masks that aren’t very effective. Almost everyone is brought in for work and when they get sick or have to quarantine, the workers are left to their own devices in most instances,” she said.

Five garment workers had died and a large number of them were facing COVID-19 related complications, Thushari said. The labour activist asserted that most of the garment factory workers were under 30 years and therefore had not been vaccinated.

“There is hardly any testing to identify cases as well. Although the factories have made colossal profits the salaries of workers have been reduced. The company owners are gaining but the workers are losing,” she said.

Meanwhile, College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS) President, Ravi Kumudesh told The Island that they were capable of testing all garment workers and issue reports within a few days, if the government gave the green light.

“We have been warning of infection clusters around garment factories for almost a year. We understand that is it necessary to keep these factories open, but the lives of their workers matter more than anything else. From what we hear, a significant number of factories now face labour shortages because most workers have tested COVID-19 positive.”


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Heat Index at ‘Caution level’ in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura, Mannar, Vavuniya and Monaragala districts

Published

30 mins ago

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2026/03/26

By

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of  Meteorology
at 3.30 p.m. on 25 March 2026, valid for 26 March 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in
Anuradhapura, Mannar, Vavuniya and Monaragala districts.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry
of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

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US dodges question on AKD’s claim SL denied permission for military aircraft to land

Published

42 mins ago

on

2026/03/26

By

President

By Shamindra Ferdinando

A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Colombo declared that the United States and Sri Lanka maintain a long-standing defence partnership, grounded in transparency, mutual respect, and shared interests.

The official said so in response to The Island query regarding President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s recent bombshell disclosure, in Parliament, that his government declined to allow the US Air Force to use the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, following the eruption of the latest West Asia war.

We sought views of the US on President Dissanayake’s claim against the backdrop of Sri Lanka being a party to the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) since 2007. Sri Lanka extended the ACSA in 2017, for another 10-year period, and its extension comes up next year.

The President revealed that the US had requested permission to use Mattala, between 04 and 08 March.

Claiming that the request had been made on 26 February, two days before the war began, President Dissanayake said that the US had sought to land two aircraft, carrying eight anti-ship missiles, but that the request had been turned down to maintain Sri Lanka’s neutrality. The President revealed that the aircraft were to come from a US base in Djibouti.

The US embassy pokesperson explained that questions related to operational movements, including ‘Operation Epic Fury’, should be directed to the Department of War (DOW) in Washington.

Camp Lemonnier is the primary base of operations for US Africa Command in the Horn of Africa. China, too, has its only overseas military base in Djibouti in the vicinity.

Military sources said whatever various interested parties said about US-Sri Lanka relations, the former provided significant intelligence support during last phase of the conflict that enabled the Navy to hunt down floating LTTE arsenals in international waters. Of the eight LTTE vessels sunk, the US backed four hits with specific intelligence, sources said.

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No decrease in remittances from workers due to Gulf conflict, but significant drop in tourist arrivals – CB Governor

Published

44 mins ago

on

2026/03/26

By

CBSL Governor

Sri Lanka’s worker remittances had not seen a decrease despite the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Central Bank (CBSL) Governor, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said yesterday.

“Based on currently available data, they have not seen a decline in remittances. In fact, according to that we have observed, is a slight increase in remittances in the past few days, ” the Governor said at a media conference held at the Central Bank head office in Colombo.

Governor Weerasinghe also mentioned that he had not seen any reports about Sri Lankans returning to the country from the Middle East due to the ongoing conflict.

The Central Bank Governor, however, acknowledged that there had been a decrease in tourist arrivals. He confirmed that tourist arrivals had decreased by around 17 percent due to the current volatile situation in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at the current level of 7.75%, following its latest Monetary Policy Board meeting.

By Hiran H Senewiratne

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