Clue to source of infection of Minuwangoda cluster
Army Commander promises information once confirmed
The authorities have a “clue” as to the source of infection of the Minuwangoda cluster, Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) and
Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva told the Sunday Times on Thursday.
“We have bit of a clue now on where/who the source may be. We cannot tell you right now but we will tell you maybe in a couple of days once we get the information confirmed and the authenticity is established. We have gone through various channels and found a likely source,” he said in a wide-ranging interview at
Army Headquarters at Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte.
With regard to the current situation, he said that “we are at the latter stages of the second week. When you compare it to what has happened there, I think we can be happy that we have managed to contain the situation as per the strategy we adopted in the beginning for COVID-19. Up to now, we have not found a single person outside the Minuwangoda cluster. They are all totally linked to the cluster”.
He said that all cases detected are basically within the curfew areas and they find one or two cases coming from various parts.
Lt. Gen. Silva said: “Initially, we found that although it was from various parts of Sri Lanka, they were all employees of the Minuwangoda cluster and now their contacts are appearing from different parts of the country in small numbers which of course we should be alarmed and cautious about but all of them are connected to this cluster.
“We expect that we might get a few more in time to come from various places……but we have managed to identify each and every individual who tested positive as well as their immediate contacts and while we move forward we have been able to trace back and identify the source where they have got the infection from,” the NOCPCO Head said, adding that as of today, they have managed to curtail and contain the spread.
“One of our strategies was containment, which we have done as we have prevented the spreading of the infection. All the cases popping up now around the country, wherever it may be is connected to the original Minuwangoda cluster.”
When asked whether there would be an overload on hospitals, quarantine centres and testng capacities, he said: “No, I don’t foresee anything as such. At any given time, one might think there is a problem with the capacity. It was felt from the very beginning of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. Have we ever gone short of capacities? When we built the very first quarantine centre for those who came from Wuhan, China, we would have felt ‘could we afford to get more?’ At that time the only hospital was the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) and now we have 15-20 more hospitals ready.
“This is an ongoing process and we are evaluating the number of COVID-19 patients versus the number of quarantine centres that will be required. We are very proactive in our action and thereby we have been able to always accommodate any number that comes in because we have created sufficient space for quarantine or in hospitals.
“I don’t foresee a shortage…………. unlike advanced countries, we will not let the people feel there is a shortage even if we have one. We will not allow people to face such a situation like that.”
Here are excerpts of the interview with
Lt. Gen Shavendra Silva:
What if the virus gets into the older community? Aren’t we managing the crisis because most of the patients are young?
So far we have been lucky that this was detected with a generation that can be managed. That gave enough alarm and sufficient time for the vulnerable groups to take the necessary precautions against COVID-19.
Every day we brief and tell people to be careful with the elderly group. This is not a sudden thing to hit the vulnerable groups, I think most vulnerable groups look after themselves or their children or whoever takes care of them, advise them and there is no problem there.
But yes, COVID is such a dangerous thing irrespective of whatever the age. This is because we have still not detected what the extent of this virus is………As of now, we have not identified the exact damage of the virus, therefore, what I feel is that the best thing to do is not get COVID-19.
What of the capacity for RT-PCR testing?
The RT-PCR testing, we are running between 5,000 and 7,000 (8000 maximum). We have passed the 7,000 limit during the past few days daily but practically we can run up to 5,000 because if we are going to continuously do this, it is not the test kit but the man behind the test kit that will get fatigued over this. There might be enough people to take swabs but not those in the laboratory who are reading the reports…….so we have to consider the fatigue that is being faced.
What about personnel at ground level?
Personnel like the PHIs (Public Health Inspectors) were stretched to some extent because this was concentrated in the Minuwangoda, Divulapitiya and Veyangoda areas but on Wednesday the President took the decision during the Task Force meeting to get another set of doctors and PHIs from other areas to be brought as a reserve to support those from this area.
We were trying to create a reserve and what I suggested was to have a mobile reserve that we can push into any affected area. This began on Thursday.
What are the challenges faced by the Tri-Forces?
We like and love challenges as we can keep up our momentum as professionals. This is not a war. This is a non- traditional threat, a new thing not just for us but to the world. Especially, with us being a country with a small economy, we have to understand the capacities of all other stakeholders and since our main aim is to protect the people, we are trying to bridge the gap. It is a huge challenge.
Starting from quarantining, which is not an army job, the first challenge was building quarantine centres and we never gave up. Right now there are 10,500 people under quarantine in more than 96 centres but still I have created a further capacity for another 2,000. Even if it comes to another 5,000, space can be created and as of now there are plans for a further 10,000.
The other challenge is finding the people to look after those in the quarantine centres. The health sector cannot handle this. As of today, not a single health sector doctor, nurse or employee is in these quarantine centres. These centres are run 80% by the army and 10% each by the Navy and Air Force. That is another challenge to face, while looking after the health of over 175,000 army personnel.
We can say that we were the most successful in the world because we have not allowed any person in a quarantine centre to spread the disease to another. Imagine more than 52,000 people have passed through quarantine centres but no quarantine cluster has been reported as we managed so well with limited resources.
Not everyone is happy to get quarantined for 14 days and we have to ensure they don’t mix with other people as well so a lot of staff is required for that.
*Please visit our website sundaytimes.lk for full interview with Army Commander and followup answers from Brandix * Please see Page 10 for more COVID-19 related stories