SL receives 6,300 kg of personal protective equipment from Australia.

 The Australian Government handed over 6,300 kilograms of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Sri Lanka today.

General Shavendra Silva, Head of the National Operation Centre for COVID-19 Outbreak Prevention, received the equipment from High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David Holly and Australian Defence Adviser Captain Ian Cain.

“Australia shows sympathy with Sri Lanka as we both face the repercussions of the global COVID-19 crisis,” High Commissioner Holly remarked at the transfer ceremony. The Australian Department of Defence is particularly happy to assist Sri Lanka's military services in their efforts to combat COVID-19 by providing much-needed equipment to safeguard people on the front lines in Sri Lanka.”

The PPE included 16,500 high-quality coveralls, 25,000 surgical face masks, 100,000 Ansell gloves made in Sri Lanka, 175 googles, and 15 (25-litre) cold cases to transport vaccines, and will aid Sri Lanka's attempts to prevent additional COVID-19 transmission.

The Australian government has committed AUD 11.7 million (about LKR 1.8 billion) to Sri Lanka's COVID-19 response, which includes assistance to the Ministry of Health to improve national laboratories and the provision of critical food and sanitary goods to Sri Lankan communities.