Pregnant public sector employees allowed to work from home

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Sri Lankan Government has decided to allow pregnant public sector employees to work from home, announced State Minister (Prof) Channa Jayasumana in Parliament on Thursday (05).

He said the respective circular will be issued by the Ministry of Public Administration.

Further, the government will take measures to vaccinate all those in the public service between the ages of 18 - 30, without delay, said the State Minister.

In addition, the government has decided to allow public sector employees to work according to shifts where one group will work from Monday to Wednesday and the other group will work from Thursday to Saturday, said Professor Jayasumana.

The respective circular in this regard will be issued soon.

Professor Channa Jayasumana said it was decided to appoint a designated officer for each public institution to ensure that the necessary health guidelines are followed to the letter.

He said that there was a spike in COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks and most of those cases had either attended weddings or consumed meals together in a manner that could spread the virus.

The State Minister said mass gatherings also give cause for the spread of the coronavirus.

He appealed to the teachers and principals who are protesting to temporarily suspend their protests and support the efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

There was a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 patients who require oxygen as part of their treatment, said State Minister Dr. Channa Jayasumana adding that all of the oxygen produced in Sri Lanka is being used to provide treatment for patients.

In the next two weeks oxygen will be imported from India and Singapore, he said.