War against an unseen enemy --120nm in diameter

It was unbecoming of the Presidential Media Unit to put the blame on the general public for what happened last Tuesday morning when the locked-down or locked-up citizenry besieged supermarkets, wholesale markets, grocery stores and pharmacies. It was not a pleasant exercise to spring on the public. What happened, and not for the first time after the coronavirus or COVID-19 crisis broke out was the absolute antithesis of what health experts had advised day and night all week -- to maintain social distancing and avoid large gatherings.

As the saying goes, one does not have to be a ‘rocket scientist’ to have anticipated the natural anxiety among the general public spilling onto the streets in search of food and medicine when the curfew was lifted for a few hours. After all, no-one knew when it would be lifted next.

The end result of that bloomer on the part of the authorities has been a further prolonged curfew for an indefinite period.

Little purpose is served in playing the blame game. But for a Government that was initially too slow to lock the gates at the entry points to the country for persons coming from infected countries, it must have observed the public maintaining a disciplined self-quarantine prior to the declaration of a curfew.

A few miscreant trip-goers and anti-social elements -- types you find in every country had to be taken to task. It was only when a curfew was to be imposed that there was a rush to the railway stations and bus terminals -- people going home in crowded public transport. Very few countries have imposed a full-blown curfew as opposed to a lockdown which Sri Lankans were capable of responsibly adhering to. That would have avoided the mayhem we saw last Tuesday – and are likely to see again when the curfew is lifted -- unless measures are taken to rectify the shortcomings that occurred on that day.

The only decision implemented was the 2-3 metre ‘social distancing’ outside some supermarkets but it was something else in the wholesale markets. In many other countries, supermarkets operated with staggered shopping hours, priority being given to frontline health workers and senior citizens.

Critics complained that the Task Force was greatly influenced by the GMOA and the military with less importance shown to the everyday needs of the common folk.

In the circumstances, it is best that someone like Basil Rajapaksa has been inducted into service. Acclaimed by friend and foe as a political strategist with a feel of the grassroots pulse, he knows more on how the civilian administration that was otherwise left out, works.

Even the GMOA admits that the three-pronged model that Singapore and other countries in the region have followed is best here, i. e. utilising not only the medical capacity and Government action, but also social capacity.

Prolonged curfews are not new for a country that has faced two insurgencies. In both instances, it was the civil administration that was called upon to deliver the goods to the people who were asked to remain indoors.

In 1971, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands under Minister Hector Kobbekaduwa and in 1983, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives under Minister Gamani Jayasuriya and the Ministry of Trade and Shipping under Minister Lalith Athulathmudali ensured the ordinary people were looked after in times of crisis.

In 1983, there were refugee camps that had to be set up within 48 hours for those whose homes were attacked by mobs. The wholesale market in Pettah had been set alight. Schools were evacuated and mobilised as camps as rioting continued. Hundreds of thousands of refugees around the country had to be fed. Passenger ships taking refugees from Colombo to Kankesanthurai were fed by the Port kitchen. The Chamber of Commerce was set in motion to ensure large private sector institutions had supplies while welfare centres in state institutions prepared pre-packed hampers for their workers so there was no panic created. All this was done under the purview of a civilian administration with renowned public servant Bradman Weerakoon as Commissioner General of Essential Services. And, no food riots took place. In fact, Minister Jayasuriya was famously quoted as telling his officials “the only shortage I want to see is red tape”. Where is the civil administration apparatus today and the caretaker ministers in charge of food distribution?

In modern times, the private sector and the ‘big boys’ have taken over the food and consumer needs supply chain. Gone are most of the corner shops and neighbourhood grocery stores that have crumbled under the weight of the supermarkets. The state co-operatives are a pitiful pack riddled with corruption and inefficiency which few would patronise.

How China tackled the complete lockdown of the entire Wuhan province for weeks in terms of how people were fed is worthy of study even for the future. Once people know that the bellies of their families are looked after, and those who need vital medicines have the confidence that they can access them, long lockdowns or curfews are only an inconvenience. Early announcements of the timings of these curfews can ease the anxiety and stress.

All that said, the rest is impressive. A country with the same population as Australia but with so much greater density, Sri Lanka has done exceptionally well so far in spite of the early failings to arrest the spread of the deadly virus to unmanageable proportions.

The spread has been contained to the ‘cluster stage’ (small groups) without it jumping to the ‘community stage’, which is when alarm bells will ring. Military Intelligence and the Police are working 24/7 on ‘Mission Contact Tracing’ to identify persons who were associated with the virus carriers, especially those from Italy. These Italy returnees were mostly people who had entered and worked in Italy illegally and are accustomed to living on the fringes of the law. They must be vigorously pursued. In a small country like Sri Lanka it’s difficult to hide too long -- unless you have the protection of the VVIPs. Till then it may still be too premature to declare victory.

There’s more ahead. The Government will have to think of financial stimulus packages -- even if it is broke, for industry big and small and the daily wage-earner. There is dengue waiting in the wings; Agricultural production to feed the people and export earnings to be seen to.

Ensuring that the people do not face a food crisis, meanwhile, must also be addressed but for now, the priority is to keep people safe: the urgency is to ‘flatten the curve’ and win the war against an unseen enemy, approximately 120 nm (nm is a nanometre and one nm is one billionth of a metre) in diameter that is terrorising the world.