Urgent call for oxygen from China

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has requested for medical supplies including oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders as well as high flow nasal oxygen therapy machines and oxygen regulators from China.

 

A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said the Chinese embassy was working to provide the supplies as soon as possible.

 

UAE travel ban

 

The United Arab Emirates will bar entry to non-UAE resident travellers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka starting on Wednesday to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, it said today.

 

The UAE last month banned entry to travellers from India to guard against the spread of the highly contagious Indian variant.

 

“Flights between the four countries will continue to allow the transport of passengers from the UAE to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka,” the Gulf state’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) said.

 

More than 40 vaccination centres have been established in the Western Province to provide the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, health authorities said.
Forty vaccination centres Accordingly, the first dose of the vaccine would be given to individuals between the age of 30 to 59.

 

Ten centres each have been set up in Colombo and Kalutara districts, while more than 15 centres have been put up in the Gampaha District. However, an additional number of five centres are established in the Colombo Municipal Council area.

 

The authorities expect to vaccinate about 25,000 per day.