President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will address the nation on Wednesday, November 18, the President’s Media Division said today.

The total number of prison inmates and officers contracted with Covid-19 has increased to 437.

Leave for all prison employees have been canceled with immediate effect, the Prisons Department announced today.

The isolation status in 25 police areas in Colombo and Gampaha districts will continue from 5 am tomorrow as those areas remain high risk areas for Covid-19.

The total number of Covid-19 cases reported in the Colombo District from the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters has exceeded 5,000.

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to take a historic step and select a woman to head the Pentagon for the first time, shattering one of the few remaining barriers to women in the department and the presidential Cabinet.

Two persons aged 55 and 32 years old have been killed by a group at Sullipuram in Jaffna, Police said.

Dr Jayaruwan Bandara, who was serving as the Health Ministry Spokesman has stepped down from the post, following a request made Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi.

Maradana, Fort, Pettah, Slave Island and Dam Street in the Colombo District will also be isolated from 5.00 am on Monday (November 16), Army Commander Shavendra Silva said.

The total Covid-19 recoveries in the country increased to 11, 324 with 293 more Covid-19 patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals, the Health Ministry said.

A total of 214 more Covid-19 cases were reported surging the total cases detected so far to 16,405, the Government Information Department said.

A total of 94 more inmates from old Bogambara and Kiruvita prisons contracted Covid-19 taking the total number of inmates infected with the virus to 285, the Prison Department said.

A 35-year old male from Kadugannawa had been arrested by the CID for publishing a false post on social media stating that a person collapsed and died on the road due to Covid-19.

Hira Foundation Sri Lanka which was founded by former Eastern Province Governor M.L.A.M. Hizbullah had not been registered properly with the Social Services Department, the PCoI probing Easter Sunday attacks was informed yesterday.

Police said yesterday that they are investigating to locate the individuals who spread false propaganda on social media claiming that people have died after falling on the roads due to the coronavirus.

The Colombo Port which has been hard hit by the pandemic operates at 60-70 percent of its usual efficiency, but things will be fully operational by next week, an official said yesterday.

State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, making his remarks at the Vice Foreign Minister-Level Video Conference on COVID-19, said the government had to deal with the loss of employment, particularly workers in the informal sector an

Rapid Antigen test cannot be conducted until the Health Ministry issues guidelines on how to use the test kits, State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana told Parliament yesterday.

A total of 468 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported today bringing the total confirmed cases to 16,191, the Health Ministry said.

In the wake of four employees attached to the Taj Samudra ’Hotel’, Colombo testing positive for COVID-19, the management said in a statement that the safety and wellbeing of their guests remain the highest priority.

Five more COVID-19 related deaths were reported today surging the total COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka to 53, the Government Information Department said.

The Angsana Gym at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo had been closed after an employee attached to the gym tested positive for COIVID-19 yesterday, the hotel management said.

Reporting of Covid-19 cases outside the Western Province remained at a lower rate, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said today.

Rapid Antigen test cannot be conducted until the Health Ministry issues guidelines on how to use the test kits, State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana told Parliament today.

A total of 378 more Covid-19 patients recovered and were discharged from hospitals increasing the total number of recoveries in Sri Lanka to 11,031, the Health Ministry said.

Four employees at a five-star hotel in Colombo have tested positive for COVID-19 today, the National Operation Center for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak, said today.

The repatriation of Sri Lankan citizens overseas which was temporarily suspended will resume next week, with five special flights designated to repatriate Sri Lankans from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Italy, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.

Former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, who was remanded in connection with alleged misappropriation of public funds at the last Presidential Election, was further remanded till November 25 by Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court today.

A total of 36 Sri Lankan expatriates who were stranded in Japan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrived in the country this morning.

Army Commander and Head of the National Operation Center for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak, Lt. General Shavendra Silva said authorities will resume the repatriation process to bring back stranded Sri Lankans from overseas by next week after it was