SL lauds China’s efforts to contain coronavirus

The government has expressed its satisfaction on preventive measures taken by the Chinese Government and its embassy in Colombo to contain the spread of novel coronavirus in Sri Lanka, an official from the Chinese Embassy told Daily Mirror yesterday.

"The government is grateful on what the Chinese Government and its embassy have done to collaborate with this request," the official said.

In a press release, the Chinese Embassy called on “all walks of life in Sri Lanka” not to spread/believe rumours or to panic. It called on Sri Lankans to support China and the international community to fight the epidemic.

"Recently, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka noticed some fake videos of 'China kills Covind-19 infected' circulating on social media which were inconsistent with facts and full of hatred, annihilation of human nature, challenging human bottom line and maliciously attacking China. We strongly condemn this. In battling the epidemic, the Chinese Government has adopted the most comprehensive and stringent prevention measures. The country has initiated first-level response. More than 11,000 medical professionals across the country have been assembled and sent to help Hubei Province, the epicenter," the embassy said.

Meanwhile, Daily Mirror learns that Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka continued to stay indoors as much as possible due to continuous discrimination in public areas, hotels and restaurants.

One Chinese national residing in Colombo said several Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka were still in isolation after returning from the Chinese New Year while those who had not travelled to China recently were remaining indoors due to the fear of discrimination. (Jamila Hussain)