‘Don’t neglect other diseases but go to hospital’
While urging people not to neglect any other disease but seek treatment at state hospitals without fear, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera assured that a circular has been sent on Thursday reinforcing instructions with regard to triaging any suspected COVID19 patients so that health staff and other patients do not catch the virus.
A large exposure is highly unlikely because we are prepared. The circular reiterates the importance of having hand-washing areas, triage areas for suspected COVID-19 patients, a fever corner at the OPD, and a functioning isolation unit and respiratory ward.
Triaging for COVID-19
Such triaging will ensure that a large number of hospital staff will not get exposed to the virus leading to a collapse of the system, said Dr. Samaraweera, when asked whether Sri Lanka should have a few health teams ready to be parachuted as troubleshooters in case a large number catch the virus or have to be quarantined.
Advice to patients
When asked what people should do in case they suspect that they have COVID19 symptoms, Dr. Samaraweera said that if they are in the Gampaha district, they should go to the nearest state hospital in a private vehicle, strictly following the health precautions of wearing a face-mask, stringent hand hygiene and maintaining a metre-distance. If such people are in areas other than the Gampaha district, but have had contact with Brandix staff or visited Gampaha, then they too should go to a state hospital immediately.
He added: “However, if they are in areas other than the Gampaha district and have had no contact with Brandix staff or have not visited the Gampaha area, they should remain calm and not panic as an influx of people to state hospitals could lead to valuable resources being used up unnecessarily. If you have respiratory symptoms, don’t go anywhere, isolate yourself at home and adhere to all the health measures. If there is a worsening of symptoms, seek medical advice.”
Plea to take small hospitals for asymptomatic COVID positives
Other health sources said that the usual and critical services provided by large state hospitals should not be affected by corona getting precedence.
“Otherwise, many people will die of other diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and more. This is why without turning major state hospitals into dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, smaller ones should be designated for that purpose to keep asymptomatic people. The major hospitals could have isolation units where symptomatic COVID-19 patients could be treated,” a source said.
Need for separate quarantine facilities for health staff
Meanwhile, another aspect that many sources expressed concern was over health staff who may have been exposed to the virus being quarantined at centres accommodating people who are at highrisk of turning positive during their quarantine period.
They said that as the health staff is a vital pivot in the battle against COVID-19, they should be accommodated in a separate facility and by now Sri Lanka should have thought of these details and put in place such a plan.