Business community volunteers to close down suburbs

COLOMBO (News 1st): With the spread of the pandemic, the business community volunteered to close suburban stores in several parts of the island yesterday (17). Accordingly, the Ambalangoda Traders Association and the Gampaha Traders Association decided to close their shops in the town for 07 days from yesterday (16). As of yesterday (16), the number of COVID-19 infections reported from the Ambalangoda area is 1,431 while the Gampaha District reported high number of cases for several consecutive days. Moreover, the Kekirawa Traders' Association also took steps to close the Kekirawa town until the 27th August after more than 500 infected persons were found in the area within a period of two weeks. Our correspondent said that only pharmacies, medical laboratories and petrol stations in the city continued to remain open. "At present, 18 deaths have been reported in this area due to COVID. We hope to support the Government by closing down these businesses without making this city more dangerous. The Veyangoda coroner also died due to this virus," the Veyangoda Traders Association President S.P.S. Weerasinghe says. Meanwhile, the Association of Specialist Physicians points out that taking steps to protect the people voluntarily is a good approach. Dr. Lakkumar Fernando, President of the Association of Specialist Physicians; "The merchants, realizing that there is no other way to stop the mobilization of the people in some cities, are trying to shut the city down and prevent the virus from spreading. So as a society, we don't have to blame anyone. We all have to realize that we have a big part to do."