Health Ministry rules out possibility of cluster

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – The Health Ministry yesterday ruled out a possibility of the Welikada Prison transforming into a Covid-19 cluster or a second wave triggering off in the country after an inmate tested positive at the Welikada Prison.

By last evening, 600 inmates and officials from the Kandakadu drug and rehabilitation centre had been transported into the Kandakadu quarantine centre while PCR testing was being done on all of them.

Further, prisoners who had been transferred to other prisons from the Welikada Prison recently were also quarantined in addition to the over 180 prisoners from the Welikada Prison who are already being quarantined for 14 days.

By last morning, the Prisons Department had instructed all prisons countrywide to prohibit visitors until further notice. “We have taken all precautions and continue to monitor the situation, So far from the PCR tests conducted, all have been negative,” Director General of Health Services, Dr. Anil Jasingha has stated to media.