COVID-19: GMOA fears community spread has begun

• IMPOSING POLICE CURFEW IS NOT A VIABLE SOLUTION AS PEOPLE WERE STILL ALLOWED TO MOVE BY SHOWING A PASS • COMMUNITY SPREAD OF THE VIRUS MAY HAVE BEGUN ALTHOUGH AUTHORITIES SAY ALL WERE LINKED TO THE MINUWANGODA CLUSTER

The Government Medical Officers Association yesterday warned that Sri Lanka may already be facing the danger of a community spread as multiple clusters were emerging in several areas and the original source of the Minuwangoda cluster was yet to be known.

GMOA Member, Dr. Naveen De Soyza told the Daily Mirror that Sri lanka was facing a rapid rise in clusters across the country and this signalled that a community spread of the virus may have begun although authorities said all were linked to the Minuwangoda cluster.

Dr. Soyza called on the government to immediately strictly restrict movement in areas which had been marked as red zones in the country, where clusters had been reported and impose a district to district ban to restrict the movement of possible virus carriers.

He further said imposing police curfew was not a viable solution as people were still allowed to move by showing a pass. “We raised these matters with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as well when we met him on Wednesday. We need to restrict movement immediately as we face a dangerous situation,” he said.

The Health Ministry has been maintaining that the present COVID-19 situation facing the country was not the start of a community as all patients being detected presently were linked to the Minuwangoda cluster. However, a source within the Health Ministry said that they were still to find the original source of the Minuwangoda cluster after the first patient was detected on October 4.

Meanwhile the GMOA also raised concerns whether the country’s existing health system was adequate enough in dealing with the rapid rise in the number of patients.

“The issue is the numbers who are appearing as PCR positives and the number of their contacts. Depending on that we can estimate the danger right now. So the health capacity cannot bear so much of a burden to the system. What we are worrying about is whether we can attend to the rising number of patients and their contacts,” Dr. Soyza said.

Till last evening the Minuwangoda cluster had already surpassed the 1,800 mark with authorities saying contact tracing was ongoing. The Health Ministry however has said the country was well equipped in treating the rising number of patients and would equip additional beds in the identified hospitals if the need arises.