News
Health Ministry quashes rumours about removal of mask mandate
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Reports that the Ministry of Health was considering the removal of the mask mandate were baseless, Medical Technical Services Director Dr. Anwar Hamdani told the media yesterday.
Dr. Hamdani said some people were spreading rumours that mask mandates would be removed soon. However, neither the government nor the Health Ministry had even thought of that, he said.
“We can’t even think of such a decision. The booster roll-out is still going slow,” he said. The Sri Lankan health officials followed the example and recommendation of the World Health Organization on such matters, he said.
Dr. Hamdani said that some foreign countries had decided that masks would no longer be mandatory. He said that such decisions were based on the number of people who had taken the vaccines and other considerations.
“In our case, the number of COVID related deaths had increased by 17% compared to the beginning of the year. The number of COVID cases who required oxygen and had been admitted to ICUs had increased significantly.
Dr. Hamdani said that people should get the booster shot as soon as possible and follow health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID. Despite the best efforts of health officials only about six million people had so far taken the booster shot.
“People are not taking the booster due to various myths and rumours. People should get the booster as soon as possible. They should also adhere to health guidelines. COVID may have many variants but the way all variants spread is the same,” he said.
Meanwhile Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena said that removing of mask mandates would be in the last phase of the government’s campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The masks will be removed in the end. We need to give booster doses to 14.1 million people. We have not even reached half of that. If we can give the booster to all, we can ensure some sort of herd immunity. If more people take the booster, we can relax more,” he said.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to appoint Ms. P. M. Jayadeera (Engineer) in the Special Grade of Sri Lanka Engineering Service serving at present as the Additional Secretary (Water Resources Development) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to the post of Director General which will be vacant from 06.10.2026.
Approval has been granted at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 08.06.2026 to prepare a draft bill for restructuring Sri Lanka Cricket.
Accordingly, the Legal Draftsman has formulated Sri Lanka draft bill providing legal provisions for the administration of Sri
Lanka Cricket, control, regulation, promotion, establishment of Sri Lanka Cricket for the development and administration, through the concepts of better governance, integrity, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness and providing equal opportunities for the betterment of the cricket sport, establishment of Sri Lanka Cricket for securing the wellbeing of all participants and securing cricket from corruption and other mal practices.
Clearance of the Attorney General has been received for the said draft bill. Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers has been received for the resolution furnished by the Minister of
Youth Affairs and Sports to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
The Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation performs vitally important functions such as minimizing the risk of inundation in urban and lowland areas, maintaining drainage systems efficiently, carrying out urgent operations during inundation events, and maintaining canals.
The need to strengthen the capacity of the corporation’s internal
operations has been identified by the corporation to perform the aforementioned functions efficiently and expeditiously.
The corporation has planned to purchase small -scale machinery that can be used to clean small canals, which significantly contribute to urban inundation.
The General Treasury has agreed to grant 625 million rupees as an equity contribution for purchasing the relevant machinery.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution submitted by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to purchase the relevant machinery by the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation, following formal procurement procedures at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,233
million, utilizing the aforementioned amount granted by the General Treasury and the funds of the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation.
Ms. P. M. Jayadeera (Engineer) appointed Director General of Irrigation
Sri Lanka Cricket Draft Bill to be gazetted
Cabinet approves purchase of machinery for the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation
Cabinet approval for Project to Build Secure, Skilled, and Empowered Community for families resettled at the at Kalinga Mawatha, housing scheme
Appointment of Cabinet Sub-Committee for the Organization of 79th Independence Day Commemoration
Establishment of New Management Framework for the Dr. Nevil Fernando Hospital
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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