News
GMOA raises alarm over COVID-19 deaths increasing rapidly

By Rathindra Kuruwita
As three COVID-19 persons died yesterday (27) while undergoing treatment at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) and the National hospital, Colombo the Government Medical Officers’ Association warned that the number of deaths would increase rapidly if the government didn’t take immediate action.
The 17th COVID-19 related death was that of a 41-year-old resident of Ja-Ela, who was also undergoing treatment for cirrhosis. He died at the IDH.
The other two, an 87-year-old woman from Slave Island and a 19-year-old person from Keselwatte passed away while undergoing treatment at the National Hospital. The woman had been admitted to the hospital for a leg injury. PCR tests conducted following their deaths proved that they were COVID0-19 positive.
GMOA’s Dr. Haritha Aluthge told The Island that they had warned of an increase in the number of COVID-19 related deaths for some time. The inputs of health sector experts had not given the attention they deserved, he said.
“On Monday, we warned that it was a complex situation and we are in front of a serious crisis. We are detecting COVID-19 positive cases by the hundreds now each day and people do not believe that we have not reached the community spread level. With these deaths people will panic more.”
Hospitals were being overwhelmed and the deaths would rise exponentially if the current trend continued, he said. “If we don’t make a course correction, we can expect a large number of deaths in the next two months. We have identified five districts at risk; they are Gampaha, Colombo, Kalutara, Kegalle and Kurunegala; some other districts are also at risk. We have proposed that the borders of these five districts be secured. We have also told this to the Presidential Task Force.”
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 in this country. That is why health professionals have been urging those in power to take steps to curb NCDs.”
Latest News
Accepting deposits for Local Authorities Election concludes

Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
Latest News
Former IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court

It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
News
Ex-Minister ordered to pay loan interest in arrears for 24 yrs

The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
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