Dilip Wedaarachchi, former Sri Lankan fisheries minister, bit into a raw fish at a press conference in Colombo on Tuesday. He did it to prove that consuming fish does not transmit COVID-19 and also to encourage people to buy more fish.
This comes after the fish sales in the country have decreased after a major coronavirus cluster emerged in the Central Fish Market in the outskirts of the capital in October. For the uninitiated, the fish industry is a major source of revenue for the island nation.
"Our people who are in the fisheries industry cannot sell their fish. People of this country are not eating fish," Dilip Wedaarachchi said.
"I brought this fish to show you. I am making an appeal to the people of this country to eat this fish. Don't be afraid. You will not get infected by the coronavirus," he added.
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According to the Johns Hopkins University data, Sri Lanka has recorded over 17,600 COVID-19 cases and 61 deaths.
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