Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has urged Sri Lanka fishermen to avoid contacts with Indian fishermen on international waters in order to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection.

The minister pointed out that local fishermen in the northern part of the island engage in trading and exchanging goods with Indian fishermen as a large number of their relatives and associates reside in the neighbouring country.

There were also reports on fishermen smuggling in contraband to Sri Lanka from India, the fisheries minister said further.

Taking into account the prevailing situation, local fishermen have been advised to avoid contacts with their Indian counterparts for the time being.

India is currently afflicted by a second wave of COVID-19 that has overwhelmed the country healthcare system with skyrocketing positive cases and deaths.

India has been recording more than 300,000 daily new infections since the 21st of April. After registering 379,257 new infections and 3,645 new deaths on Thursday (April 30), India’s total coronavirus cases count now stands over 18 million and the death toll has topped 200,000.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also confirmed 1,531 new positive cases on Thursday, marking the highest spike in its daily infections. This is the third consecutive day the island’s daily coronavirus cases count stayed over 1,000 mark.