General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tilvin Silva says that their party is closely working with the government healthcare services and is ready to contribute manpower through its volunteer force, if necessary, to assist in combatting the spread of Covid-19. He further stated that the party had decided to allocate funds from their parliamentary salary fund to purchase medical essentials required by hospitals and quarantine centres located throughout the island. Silva made these remarks during a recent media briefing after the party had handed over their nominations. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, JVP Media Unit Chief U.R. Abeynayaka said: “We have decided to use the funds to purchase sanitary products, cleaning agents, and face masks that are required by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases (IDH), and the quarantine centres in Kandakadu and Batticaloa. Apart from that, at a grassroots level, our volunteer force has installed sinks in public areas for people to wash their hands.” Abeynayaka also stated that they were willing to purchase reusable masks that are stitched according to Ministry of Health recommendations, and donate the same to required quarantine centres and hospitals.Prior to this, the party had also contributed towards community upliftment following the 2004 tsunami and at grassroots levels, during floods that occurred from time to time. Furthermore, Silva said that they had completely stopped their campaign trail for the upcoming parliamentary elections and although it might present a disadvantage to their contestants, they took this decision as the country was facing a healthcare emergency. – Sarah Hannan