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Mandatory tests for diplomats after row over US official’s refusal to undergo check
The refusal of a US official possibly with diplomatic status to give a sample for COVID-19 testing on arrival at the airport this week has resulted in revised instructions being issued by the Ministry of Foreign Relations to all foreign diplomats arriving in the country.
The US Embassy quoted the Vienna Convention on the movement of diplomats, but the issue has caused a major row between the airport authorities that allowed the diplomat through without being tested and the Health and Foreign Relations Ministries. The matter has been taken up at higher Government levels, the Sunday Times learns and this has resulted in new instructions.
These include mandatory testing for diplomats arriving in the country unless they can provide a RT-PCR test report taken within 72 hours before departure from their home countries. While Heads of Mission and their family members can quarantine at their official residence for 14 days after arrival, other diplomats will have to undergo the usual 14 days either at a designated hotel or at government quarantine centres.
The US official, believed to be a high level military officer of the US Asia Pacific Command, arrived along with a diplomat at the BIA from Doha on a Qatar Airways flight with the original embarkation point being the US, on June 3 around 2 a.m., said Airport and Aviation Services Chairman, Major General (Retd) G.A. Chandrasiri, explaining that they were the first diplomats to arrive after the testing procedure was established at the airport.
Pointing out that there was no “refusal” on the part of the US official, Maj-Gen. Chandrasiri explained that the official could have made a choice and either give the sample at the airport or let the US Embassy handle the process of getting him tested and quarantining him. He stayed at the airport from 2.30 a.m. to 6 a.m. awaiting a decision by the authorities.
The Sunday Times also understands that both the Health Ministry and the Foreign Ministry were not in favour of allowing the official to leave the airport without the sample being taken, with health sources reiterating that the principle of taking samples and testing people coming through the airport should apply across the board without exception.
They underscored that Sri Lanka had the virus under control and there was a need to protect these gains.
This is why mandatory testing at the airport was introduced this week.
“We had nothing to do with exempting the US Embassy diplomat from taking the RT-PCR test,” a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
Explaining the background, the official said that at the time the clearance for his arrival in the country was given earlier, the requirement of a test at the airport was not in place. Earlier foreign missions in Sri Lanka had been informed that those who arrived from abroad had to be in home quarantine for the specified period and submit an RT-PCR test report within 10 days of coming in.
The Sunday Times learns that pursuant to new protocols being stipulated by the Presidential Secretariat on June 4, a diplomatic note went out the same day to all diplomatic missions with the new instructions.
According to these instructions, if a diplomat gets infected by the new coronavirus, he/she has to seek admission at a hospital designated by the Sri Lanka government.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is an extraordinary situation and it is not relevant to cite the Vienna Convention in these circumstances. What needs to be considered is that Sri Lanka has no community transmission of the infection, while the US is a very high-risk country,” a senior government source told the Sunday Times, stressing that hiding behind the Vienna Convention is not acceptable with regard to testing at the airport.
With more US diplomats due to arrive in the country today, the source said the rules should strictly apply to them equally.
When the Sunday Times contacted the US Embassy spokesperson Nancy VanHorn, seeking information on a detailed list of queries including whether the ‘diplomat’ in question was a diplomat, an administrative staffer or a Marine holding a diplomatic passport, her reply was: “U.S. diplomatic staff adhere carefully to Sri Lankan COVID-19 guidelines, including quarantine restrictions, in close coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
“The arrival of US diplomatic staff to Sri Lanka also complies with the norms and procedures outlined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, just as it applies to arrival of Sri Lankan and other diplomatic staff to the United States. We refer you to the Ministry of Foreign Relations for information about their guidelines for arriving personnel of diplomatic missions. These guidelines, to which all incoming US personnel strictly adhere, apply to other foreign missions as well,” she added.
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Controversy over SriLankan crew’s testing samples at Asiri
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi, Ruqyyaha Deane & Meleeza Rathnayake
A new controversy has emerged over the decision by the airport authorities to send samples taken from airline crew members to the private Asiri Group of Hospital laboratories for testing on a payment-per-sample basis, sources told the Sunday Times.
This was as health authorities were channelling the samples of arrivals only to designated state laboratories at no cost, since samples were collected at the airport for RT-PCR testing from May 31.
No answers were forthcoming as to how the Asiri laboratories were chosen to carry out the tests of SriLankan Airlines crew when there are many state laboratories performing them as well as three other private hospitals, sources alleged.
The Sunday Times understands that the other three private hospital laboratories were not approached to conduct these tests.
When asked by the Sunday Times what private hospital was conducting the tests for SriLankan Airlines crew, Airport & Aviation Services Limited (AASL) Chairman (Retd) Major General G.A. Chandrasiri said, “I don’t think I should tell those things because these are confidential tests. I don’t think we have to inform everybody what hospitals we are using. Under the direction of the Ministry of Health I am using the hospitals.”
To the query whether these “private hospitals” are conducting testing of both passengers and crew, he said that it was only the airline crew which was being tested there.
“That too is in its initial stages as we are still organising ourselves. Today (on Thursday) we had a discussion at the Presidential Secretariat and we are planning on a different concept. Sometime next week, we will establish a laboratory system at the airport,” he said.
Explaining that there will be a totally different plan from next week, Mr. Chandrasiri said that in the initial seven days “we are doing our testing trials so that we can find the best possible way”.
When asked about the cost incurred for these tests at “private hospitals”, he said the AASL was spending for the tests because it had to establish a constructive plan. However, from next week when the Health Ministry takes over the whole thing, they will be moving out.
Although Mr. Chandrasiri did not divulge the cost, sources said a test would cost a minimum of Rs. 7,000 and samples of about 70 crew members had been sent to the Asiri laboratories.
With many sources alleging an “unholy” nexus, as the head of the Asiri Group is also Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, when the Sunday Times contacted Asiri Hospitals, the response was that “there’s no one available to comment on your (the Sunday Times) questions. But Asiri Health is not handling the testing for the crew and passengers anymore”.
Attempts to contact the Media Head of SriLankan Airlines were futile.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry’s Chief Epidemiologist, Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said that sample collection from arrivals at the airport was initiated on June 2.
“We have trained the airport health staff, the Health Ministry staff and Negombo Hospital staff to take such samples,” he said, adding that so far (till June 4) around 300 samples have been taken and sent to the MRI for RT-PCR testing. They are planning to send them on a daily basis to other designated laboratories.
When asked about the Asiri Hospital Group’s involvement in testing crew members, he said he did not know anything about it.