Navy develops 02 Negative Pressure Isolation Rooms to be installed at Colombo National Hospital

Sri Lanka Navy renovated the Intensive Care Unit of the Colombo National Hospital on 23^rd March 2020, with the objective of expanding necessary facilities for the treatment of patients contracted novel coronavirus in the country. Further, the Navy also developed a remote-controlled smart appliance called ‘Medi Mate’ in a bid to treat and test COVID-19 patients, allowing healthcare workers to remain at a safe distance. Going from strength to strength in its innovative concepts, the Navy most recently presented a Negative Pressure Isolation Room, to control the spread of the virus from sites of infected persons. The key feature of this Negative Pressure Isolation Room is that it could prevent release of the virus to the external environment by an infected person, as the air flow is drawn back to the very room the patient is in. Meanwhile the contaminated air will only be released to the external environment after destroying the virus by a heater.

Following the directives of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva, these Negative Pressure Isolation Rooms were designed by the Engineering Department of Naval Headquarters and two rooms of Colombo National Hospital were enhanced with this added facility. Thereby, people visiting the hospital and the hospital staff could be protected from being infected by COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Apart from that, the Navy also undertook several construction work at the hospital and fixed Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) systems on the hospital premises today. The Navy stands ready to extend its support to strengthen the coordinated efforts of the government to control the spread of the virus, in future endeavours as well.