130 mn rupee question and the unlocking of a lockdown in 24 hours

There has been some confusion on the process when it comes to declaring selected areas as ‘ isolated’ and lifting them subsequently. One might think, it would be the health authorities who would be the key decision makers but it turns out there are many factors involved in the mechanism.

This was evident when Jaffna District Secretary A.

Mahesan announced last Sunday that the lockdown imposed on Uduvil Divisional Secretariat the previous day after some 30 persons tested positive was lifted with immediate effect. All of them were traced back to a public vegetable market in Maruthanarmadam, Uduvil. Those who were found through contact tracing were isolated in their residences .

A senior official attached to the DS division asked on what basis was the decision taken to remove the lockdown just 24 hours after it came into effect. By Saturday midnight, instructions were given from Colombo to compile data of how many families, state employees and Samurdhi beneficiaries were in the region. They had to get hold of the local Grama Niladharis at midnight to get data from the villages.

It was estimated that the government had to pay Rs 10,000 for each eligible family in the region. The amount was well over Rs 130 million. Then came the directive from Colombo to lift the lockdown in the area but to strictly follow the COVID- 19 health guidelines in the area while enforcing home quarantine for identified families.