COVID-19 situ not uncontrollable, but plea for public support
The situation is not uncontrollable but we need the strong support of the public to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19.
This was the assurance and urgent plea by a top-level Health Ministry official both at a face-to-face interview with the Sunday Times on Thursday and a media conference on Friday.
As of Saturday afternoon, two deaths were linked to the latest Minuwangoda cluster which came to light on October 4, leaving a trail of illness among 3,681. The dead were a 50-year-old woman from Kuliyapitiya who succumbed to COVID-19 at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Angoda, and a 56-year-old man also from Kuliyapitiya who succumbed in the area’s hospital.
The Peliyagoda fish market cluster apparently related to the Minuwangoda cluster has hit 791 cases, as at last afternoon.
More areas and organisations fell like dominoes to COVID-19 including a few five-star hotels in Colombo.
“There has been an increase in the number and geographical regions affected by COVID-19. Though the situation has become barapathala (grave), it is not uncontrollable, but we need the unstinting support of the people,” said the Deputy Director-General (DDGPublic Health Services I), Dr. Hemantha Herath.
He urged that people listen and abide by the preventive and control measures set out by the health staff which includes constant hand-washing or using sanitizer; wearing a face-mask properly at all times in public places; keeping a metre distance in public places; following respiratory etiquette (sneezing and coughing into the crook of the arm); and not travelling around unless essential.
When asked during the interview about the current situation, he told the Sunday Times that based on the information that they get from the field there is no way to say that community spread has begun in Sri Lanka. Cases are reported from different parts of the country but what is really happening is that initially they do not seem to be linked to any other persons, but once you get the details of those patients, within two three days you find that they are connected to the Minuwangoda cluster.
“There are one or two cases in which we have not established a real connection to the main cluster, but out of them also, from time to time, you will find there is a connection – a middle person in-between two connections being the cause of infection. Therefore, epidemiologically speaking, we are not in a position to declare that this is a community spread. However, we have to take the same precautions,” he said, reiterating that he tells the public: “Don't worry whether this is community spread or not, take your precautions.”
The source too of the Minuwangoda cluster has not been found yet, the Sunday Times learns.
“It is extremely difficult to isolate the first case without identifying the source, as there are a thousand people to check,” said Dr. Herath.
The Sunday Times learns that Health Ministry officials including Secretary, Major-General Dr. Sanjeewa Munasinghe and Acting Director-General of Health Services, Dr. S. Sridharan, meet daily at 8.30 a.m. to analyse the situation and rectify any gaps or problems.
“Then we plan for the next day or not exactly just the day but at least for three to four days because the situation is fluid and we can’t plan for two, three weeks,” said Dr. Herath.
The thinking behind quarantine curfews
DDG Dr. Herath explained that quarantine curfews are being clamped in some areas after considering whether those areas are dynamic, with regard to the spread of COVID-19. Are a large number of people moving in and out of an area, is considered as then the public health measures may not work. Another reason is when the cooperation of the public is not sufficient to achieve the objectives of these public health intervention.
Quarantine curfew is a basic containment measure if the number of people who are affected is high and the rate of emerging cases is also high, he said, taking as a case in point the Peliyagoda fish market which sees a large number of people coming and going in and out.