Will long lines at Sathosa raise Covid-19 risk?

In several regions across the country, there are reports of long queues outside 'Sathosa' outlets.

Addressing the nation yesterday (17), president Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said prices of dhal and canned fish had been fixed with effect from midnight as a concession to the public in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.


Accordingly, a kilo of dhal would be sold at Rs.65 per kilo while a tin of canned fish would be sold at Rs.100, he added.

However, 'Sathosa' seems to be the only retail chain that is providing dhal and tinned fish at these prices.

This comes as a surprise as a gazette notification to declare a Maximum Retail Price for dhal and canned fish as well as for big onions was already been issued yesterday (17).

Since other companies have not followed these prices, public have been thronging to Sathosa outlets since morning.

However, this had led to fears whether this will also put consumers at risk in the backdrop of the prevailing Covid-19 outbreak.

Scenes outside 'Sathosa' outlets, a bill dated today showing price of tinned fish at Cargills Food City and the relevant gazette notification are shown below