SL Prez instructs exploring indigenous medicine to fight NCoV

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed health authorities to collect information from experts in indigenous as well as western medicine to find a remedy to cure those affected with the deadly coronavirus, it was reported.

Rajapaksa issued these instructions during a meeting with Ministers and officials of Health, Foreign Relations, Tourism and Higher Education held at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday, the Colombo Page newspaper said in a report on Saturday.

During the meeting, the President reviewed the steps taken by the committee of experts to prevent the spreading of the disease.

Instructing officials to provide all the necessary facilities to the students who returned from Wuhan and ensure their well-being.

He also instructed officials to take steps to enhance facilities available at hospitals.

Meanwhile, the 43 year-old female Chinese national who was admitted to the Institute of Infectious Diseases, Colombo last week after she tested positive for the coronavirus, has fully recovered, the Daily Mirror newspaper quoted Director General of Health Services Anil Jasinghe as saying on Saturday.

"She has complete recovered from her illness, she can be discharged anytime," Jasinghe said.

The woman was hospitalised on January 25 after she developed symptoms for fever.

Later she was tested positive for the coronavirus, making her the first confirmed case in Sri Lanka.

In South Asia, India and Nepal have also reported of confirmed cases.

As of Sunday, the death toll due to the coronavirus outbreak was 304 in China, with 14,380 infected cases.

The Philippines confirmed one death, making it the first country outside China to report a fatality.

Outside of China, the countries that have confirmed coronavirus cases are Thailand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Macao, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the US, Germany, France, Vietnam, Canada, Italy, the UK, Russia, Cambodia, Finland, the Philippines, Spain and Sweden.IANS