Over 170 Sri Lankans who returned from Italy and Korea have evaded quarantine, the Defence Ministry said today.

The Ministry of Defence requested all Sri Lankans who arrived from European countries including UK, Iran, Italy and South Korea from March 1 to 15 to register themselves at the nearest Police station or inform the Police, immediately.

Defence Secretary Maj.Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said that this was done to protect the country’s population from the coronavirus outbreak.

“There are over 170 passengers, who have returned to Sri Lanka from Korea and Italy and are living with their families and have not been subjected to the quarantine process. As a precautionary measure we need to get them into the screening process to detect positive cases to prevent the coronavirus spreading further,” he said.

The Defence Ministry said that those who have not been subjected to the 14-day quarantine process must call 119 and inform the Police about their details.

“They will not be taken to quarantine centres but will be quarantined at their own homes with the help of the Public Health Inspectors,” Gunaratne said.

he said that if they still fail to heed to the request, legal action will be taken against them under the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance by the Police. (Colombo Gazette)