Measures have been taken to provide opportunities for COVID-19 patients who wish to seek treatment from private hospitals, says Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva.

Joining TV Derana breakfast show ‘Derana Aruna’, the head of the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) said that discussions were held to seek the assistance of private hospitals considering the COVID-19 situation in the country.

“We have converted the quarantine centers of the tri-forces into hospitals in addition to the hospitals in the country, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, out of the over 8,000 COVID-19 patients in Sri Lanka, nearly 65 percent are not hospitalized. They are at intermediate treatment centers that were formerly run as quarantine centers.

However, some patients want to be treated in private hospitals. They do not like to stay at government hospitals due to the inconvenience of facilities or toilet facilities at government hospitals. They prefer to be treated in single room facilities.”

The Army Chief said that the President had also instructed them to look into this matter.

“We had various discussions in this regard. The Minister of Health and I had a discussion with representatives of private hospitals last week. We spoke to major private hospitals in Colombo. Accordingly, Nawaloka Hospital and Lanka Hospital have informed us of their willingness to work on this.

Accordingly, steps are being taken to convert a hotel into a hospital in a proper manner and to maintain it as a treatment center. We hope to turn this into a hospital especially for asymptomatic patients.”