News
GMOA faults Govt. for not increasing daily PCR testing to 10,000 persons
The government should conduct aggressive testing to identify those who had contracted COVID-19 in the community, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) said yesterday.
Addressing the media in Colombo GMOA’s Editor Dr. Haritha Aluthge said that the Health Ministry claimed that the number of PCR tests had increased. The country could test about 8,000 persons daily at present, but at least 10,000 should be tested daily, he said.
“The government had enough time to increase the testing capacity over the months. But when we are facing an outbreak, we find that necessary actions had not been taken.”
The country was facing a complex situation with Sri Lanka nearing social spread. Every day close to 500 cases were detected and it was also obvious that most people were not directly linked to the Brandix or Peliyagoda clusters, he said.
“We are on the verge of a community spread and if we reach that state, our health infrastructure will be overwhelmed,” Aluthge said. If Sri Lanka reached the community spread stage, ICUs and hospitals would be overwhelmed and the deaths would rise exponentially, he said.
Three COVID-19 patients died on Monday bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 19. On Monday, Head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama warned that if the situation was not brought under control urgently, the people who were prone to complications with pre-existing conditions would be in danger.
“This is what we saw on Tuesday. Those who died either had a pre-existing condition or were old. We have a lot of people with non-communicable diseases (NCD) in this country. That is why health professionals have been urging those in power to take steps to curb NCDs.”
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will undertake a four-day state visit to Vietnam on 03 May, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said. Since the presidential election, President Dissanayake has so far visited India, China and the UAE.
The 5th annual Sri Lanka-Pakistan Bilateral Defence Dialogue commenced on Monday (April 28) in Islamabad, Pakistan, marking a continued commitment to strengthening defence cooperation between the two nations.
The MoD statement: “The Sri Lankan delegation is led by Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Sampath Thuyacontha accompanied by Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda, and Additional Secretary (Defence) of the Ministry of Defence Jayantha Edirisinghe. The Pakistani delegation is headed by Lieutenant General (retd.) Muhammad Ali, Secretary Defence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
In conjunction with the on-going defence dialogue, Defence Secretary Thuyacontha held a side-line meeting yesterday (April 29) with Defence Minister of Pakistan, Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
These high-level engagements aim to enhance bilateral cooperation, foster mutual understanding on regional security dynamics and explore opportunities for defence collaboration. Both nations share a longstanding relationship rooted in mutual respect and strategic cooperation. The dialogue reflects the growing importance of partnerships in maintaining stability and promoting peace in the South Asian region.
The three-day dialogue, which concludes today (April 30), is expected to reinforce bilateral defence ties and contribute to broader regional security objectives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), conducted a two day seminar on disarmament for Sri Lanka Foreign Service Officers on 25 and 26 April, 2025 at the Ministry. The text of the FM statement: “Over 40 officers, based in Colombo, attended the workshop physically while over 60 officers, attached to Sri Lanka Missions abroad, followed the Seminar virtually.
Director of UNIDIR, Dr. Robin Geiss, Senior Researcher at the UNIDIR Security and Technology Programme, Dr. Dongyoun Cho, and Associate of Political Affairs, Ms. Fanny Sebban of UNIDIR, conducted the Seminar as resource personnel. They shared their expertise and perspectives on the global disarmament landscape and evolving threats to international peace and security, etc.
Director of UNIDIR, Dr. Robin Geiss, called on Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath and discussed closer cooperation between the Ministry and UNIDIR.
The Human Resource Development, Research & Training Division and the United Nations and Human Rights Division of the Ministry organised the Seminar initiated by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva.”
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