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Covid-positive SriLankan staffer detained in China?

09 Sep 2021

  • Tamil National Alliance MP alleges SriLankan management did not properly adhere to Covid protocols
By Pamodi Waravita An employee attached to SriLankan Airlines (SLA) is currently being held in China – under the country’s health regulations, as she had tested positive for Covid-19, well-placed sources told The Morning. However, high-level sources within the national carrier told The Morning that she has not been detained but is only receiving medical care at the moment. Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) Parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had tweeted on 8 September that an employee at the SLA is “currently detained in China due to SLA management not adhering to proper Covid-19 procedures”. On 22 August, the Flight Attendants’ Union of Sri Lanka (FAU) published a post on social media claiming that over 153 cabin crew members had tested positive for Covid-19, while at least 20 of them had been on flights while infected. The SLA subsequently issued a press release on 24 August, in which it categorically denied deploying infected flight attendants, and claimed that the said post was a “deliberate attempt to tarnish the goodwill of the National Carrier”. It clarified that it strictly follows the health and safety guidelines issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), and other directives issued by the relevant authorities in the countries it flies to. However, The Morning quoted sources at the SLA on 25 August, who claimed that this was not the case as they have proof for all these 20 cases – that they had tested positive for Covid-19, but had been on flights immediately prior to this. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairperson Kimarli Fernando had made a written request from the Health Ministry to remove the requirement for fully vaccinated flight crew to wear personal protective equipment (PPE). She had further requested that in order to get the “desired results for tourism”, the requirement for fully vaccinated persons to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test 72 hours prior to boarding a flight and the need for PCR tests for children 12 years and below, should be removed, the latter in line with European Union (EU) regulations, and also requested to allow on-arrival rapid antigen tests (RATs) for fully vaccinated passengers on the tourist route to be conducted at the airport.  


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