Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed private hospitals and private laboratories to expedite the issuing of dengue antigen test reports.

The Prime Minister’s Office stated that the Premier had issued the instruction during a discussion held yesterday (19) in the evening.

Reports indicate that patients have been subjected to considerable inconvenience owing to the delay in the issuing of dengue antigen test reports.

Accordingly, the Premier instructed the relevant institutions to issue the reports within two hours of venepuncture, by being considerate of the prevailing situation.

Meanwhile, a dengue prevention programme in areas associated with fishing ports is scheduled to take place today (20), as per the orders of the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Development, Mahinda Amaraweera.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Development stated that the programme would cover 20 fishing ports.

The Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils has also decided to conduct an inspection programme of all state and private institutions across the city of Colombo, in an effort to tackle the prevalent dengue crisis.

Accordingly, the programme has been scheduled to be conducted under the supervision of Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) attached to the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC).