News
No decision yet on airport opening
No concrete decision has been taken yet as to when Sri Lanka will open its points of entry fully and extensive discussions are underway among all stakeholders to work out the pros and cons, the Sunday Timeslearns.
Returnees on repatriation flights at the BIA. Pic by T.K.G. Kapila
The Health Ministry’s Chief Epidemiologist, Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, said that no specific date has been set to open the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake, and discussions are on how to go about it, while ensuring the safety of the country against COVID-19.
Even though a possible date for the opening of BIA was set as September 15, many sources that the Sunday Times spoke to reflected the information given by Dr. Samaraweera.
The Sunday Times learns that those involved in the decision of when to open the BIA include the Airport & Aviation Services Ltd. (AASL), the Health Ministry, the Tourism Ministry, the Civil Aviation Authority and the army.
With regard to the numbers affected by COVID-19 within the country, Dr. Samaraweera said that all sub-clusters of the Kanadakadu cluster have waned but a few confirmed cases may still surface from the Senapura sub-cluster. Now those who are detected as positive are returnees who are in quarantine centres.
Referring to the limited operations at the BIA and the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), he said that until the points of entry are opened fully, everyone who comes into the country undergoes a mandatory quarantine period of 14 days at a centre run by the government or a designated hotel, followed by another 14 days of home-quarantine.
“Transit passengers who disembark for a short while are kept in a separate section at the airport with all safety precautions. Even the staff members who have minimal contact wear full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),” he said.
When asked about the potential vaccine produced by Russia, Dr. Samaraweera said that all the usual protocols followed by Sri Lanka in introducing a new vaccine would be followed if and when a vaccine against COVID-19 is produced.
He added: “We will ensure that it is safe for use on people, whether clinical trials have been carried out to check its efficacy and effectiveness and what valid data are available.”
AASL Chairman (Retd.) Major-General G.A. Chandrasiri confirmed that no date had been set to open the BIA but they were getting ready for the opening whenever the government decided to do so.
“The BIA would be opened in a phased manner for normal traffic once the government makes a decision. When considering the COVID-19 pandemic, there are high-risk, medium-risk and low-risk countries and the government will study how, when and to which countries we would open the airport,” said Mr. Chandrasiri.
Looking at the different scenarios once the airport opens, he said that if tourists are from low-risk countries, they would take samples for RT-PCR testing, keep them at a nearby hotel for 24 hours until the test clears them of COVID-19 and release them to the Tourist Board which would oversee their tours. It would be a controlled release. Those from high-risk countries would have to be in quarantine for 14 days mandatorily.
With regard to transit passengers, he said that currently there are around two transit flights per day which usually arrive at Gates 8 and 9 of the BIA. All the transit passengers, who stay only for a maximum 12 hours, are taken to one area and do not have access to the duty-free shops. Disinfection and security teams are on hand. The number of transit passengers varies from around 300 to just two. Each gate has the capacity to hold 350 passengers.
He too underscored that any staff member whether immigration, customs or airline or ground staff who comes into contact with passengers wears the PPE which includes the mask, headgear, gloves, etc. The AASL spends more than Rs. 16 million a month to ensure that the airport staff is protected against COVID-19.
Repatriation flights
Mr. Chandrasiri said that repatriation flights have increased and the number of returnees, mainly from West Asia, Lebanon and the Maldives, varies from 900 to 1,200.
RT-PCR testing at the BIA
When asked about the RT-PCR testing capacity at the BIA, Mr. Chandrasiri said it stood at 500.
“We started with 100. The health authorities have taken over the RT-PCR laboratory. We got it done and handed it over to the health authorities,” he said.
It takes around 12 hours to issue the test results. The returnees are taken to quarantine centres or designated hotels soon after the samples are taken and informed of the results there. If the test is positive they are taken to hospital from quarantine but if negative they complete their 14 days of quarantine at the centre or designated hotel.
MRIA
There is no confirmed date for the resumption of normal activities at the MRIA, said its Chief Airport Manager Upul Kalansuriya, explaining that it would open on the same day that the government decides to open the BIA.
Currently MRIA gets only repatriation flights and arrivals of seafarers.
“We have not received instructions from the health authorities or the government with regard to the opening of the airport but we are ready to do so,” said Mr. Kalansuriya.
Usually, the MRIA has the capacity to receive about 10 flights per day which bring in about 3,000 passengers.
The Sunday Times learns that the government is planning to utilize both the BIA and the MRIA for business flights.
There are no transit flights arriving at the MRIA currently. A SriLankan Airlines flight was due yesterday (August 22) from Nairobi, Kenya, with 250-300 returnees.
| The Kandakadu cluster & sub-clusters are waning | |
| Kandakadu & SenapuraForty-six COVID-19 positive cases from the Kandakadu Treatment & Rehabilitation Centre and 37 from the Senapura Rehabilitation Centre, a sub-cluster of the Kandakadu cluster are receiving treatment at the Kandakadu field hospital. No new cases have been reported since August 14, said the Commissioner-General of Rehabilitation, Major-General Dharshana Hettiarrachchi. The rehabilitation authorities are expecting the clusters to subside by the end of September. Around 630 including the inmates of Kandakadu and Senapura (558) and their contacts have got infected by the virus. Rajanganaya The 16-year-old student from Rajanganaya who caused some concern when he tested positive on August 11 after being released from quarantine, returned home from Methsiri Sevana of the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital on Monday where he was kept under observation. Health sources indicated that the student may have had COVID-19 earlier and the third RT-PCR test would have been weakly positive due to virus-shedding from his body. The Rajanganaya Public Health Inspector (PHI), S.N. Dissanayaka said that all the contacts of a lecturer from the area who contracted the virus at Kandakadu have now concluded their quarantine. Twenty-one positive cases were reported from Rajanganaya. Around 50 RT-PCR tests taken on Tuesday were negative. So far, around 1,300 tests have been carried out since the sub-cluster began on July 10. Lankapura The situation in Lankapura has returned to normal, a source in the The Lankapura cluster began when an employee of the Divisional Secretariat who had visited the Kandakadu Treatment & Rehabilitation Centre tested positive while in quarantine. The secretariat and the nearby Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) were shut down and all employees quarantined and tested. Thereafter, a minor employee also tested positive. The 180 contacts of these two cases completed their quarantine on August 12 and the secretariat and PS were re-opened on August 14, along with the People’s Bank, Post Office and the Samurdhi Bank. Gampaha No new cases were reported in the Gampaha sub-cluster, said the area’s Medical Officer of Health (MOH), Dr. Subasha Subasinghe. The four people who contracted COVID-19 have been discharged from hospital. They were a driver, an instructor from the Kandakadu centre, a teacher and a female relative of the driver. Around 80 RT-PCR tests have been carried out Kahathuduwa The four patients of the Kahathuduwa sub-cluster The four patients were from one family. More than 200 RT-PCR tests have been done in the area, all which have been negative. |
