• Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water;
• When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw tissue away immediately and wash hands;
• Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough;
• If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider;
• When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals;
• The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.

On the instructions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday, the Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing today, submitted an application to land a Sri Lankan Airlines aircraft in Wuhan city airport to airlift 32 Sri Lankan students including their family members. The Embassy is closely following up with the Foreign Ministry of China and Foreign Affairs Office of the Wuhan Province to expedite the process of obtaining clearance for the landing of the aircraft, as soon as they are allowed to travel out of their present locations.

The Ministry, Embassy and Consulate Generals are also working with the Sri Lankan Airlines in seeking to operationalize instructions to bring back all other Sri Lankan students presently in China. It is estimated that presently approximately 860 students remain in China, spread in various city centres throughout the country.

On January 21, 2020 Mr. Mohamed Anas, Sri Lanka's Charge d' Affairs in Russia, attended the Thomas Gainsborough exhibition, co-organized by the State Museum of Fine Arts named after Pushkin, the Diplomatic Academy and State Protocol Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The exhibition was devoted to the development and establishment of the artistic style of the outstanding painter Thomas Gainsborough, one of the founders of the 18th century British artistic school.

The Heads of Diplomatic Missions accredited in Moscow with their spouses were welcomed by the Director of the Museum Mrs. Loshak, who underlined that the Museum was always open for collaboration with the diplomatic community.

The number of complaints received by the Mission from Sri Lankans against fake foreign Employment and Education agencies of Sri Lanka is at alarming level. It has been noticed that the number of Sri Lankans travelling to the Russian Federation on student/visit visas, seeking jobs and opportunities of further migration to European countries has increased drastically over the years.
It has been revealed that several foreign Employment and Education agencies of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan expatriates living in Russia and some other organized groups are engaged in these activities. Mostly students are misled and sent on student/visit visas with false promises of obtaining jobs for higher salary and facilitating to cross the borders for European countries. Further, it has been noted that considerably large amounts of money are being obtained from the students by the agents for the journey to Russia. Thereafter, illegal attempts are made to traffic them via State borders to countries such as Belarus, Ukraine, and further into the European Countries.

Among the last calls that Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka paid to the prominent figures of Russian politics and science was a meeting he had on January 9, 2020 with Professor Ruslan Khasbulatov, Chairman of the Russian Parliament during the turbulent 1993 crisis, and a well-respected scholar, Head of the Chair of International Economy at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.