Daily News Editorial

Stepping out, safely

When people step out following the partial lifting of the curfew in most parts of the country, the question on everyone’s lips should be: ‘Is it safe?’

Sri Lankans from Jaffna to Matara and Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kurunegala and Kandy, in 21 districts in all, began a semblance of what might seem ‘normal’ life yesterday. But the evil spectre of COVID-19 loomed over the nation as the most populated region, which includes the economic and political centre, stayed rigidly isolated and yet reverberating with continuous detections of infections and, lockdowns of neighbourhood after neighbourhood.

The sheer ferocity of the epidemic is such that, in recent weeks, the infection count has been increasing by the hour virtually. After a spate of COVID-19 detections in the past week alone, the total number of infected cases stood at 611 last evening. The most encouraging aspect remains the low death toll. But the recent actual acceleration of the epidemic rather than its slowing down must be a sharp warning to all.

It took literally months since the entry of the disease in late January for the number of positive cases to reach 200 in late March. Scarily, the count then more than doubled in the past three weeks. Given this acceleration of the spread, readers should not be under any illusion that this epidemic is going to disappear soon.

Yesterday’s partial relaxing of the curfew must only be seen as a ‘test’ run: the authorities are watching closely to see how much – not ‘if’ - the disease will spread because of the freed up movement of people. We simply must realise that the relaxing of certain strictures is not due to a lessening of the threat.

Rather, it is a tentative effort by a besieged nation to resuscitate a staggering economy, stunted livelihoods and, family nurturing even in the midst of the contagion. We are being allowed to step out, move around and do many things at the risk of being infected or infecting others because the nation has no choice if we are to continue with life in a constructive way.

The partial lifting of curfew, the segregation of some areas under continued lockdown, and all the intricate rules for people’s movements – the allocation of movement in public to limited groups according to our National Identity Card numbers – are all firm signals to the citizenry that our new ‘freedom’ is a freedom of movement within a COVID-19 world.

Surely, our experience of swift spreading of the infection must impress on us that even the slightest slip up in our precautionary measures, the tiniest breaking of the now familiar anti-COVID rules, will be enough to further worsen the contagion.

As we begin stepping out in order to undertake absolutely essential tasks – from food replenishment to studies to medical treatment to livelihoods – our challenge is to keep the inevitable spread of the disease to the lowest possible levels. If, due to carelessness, we allow the rate of spread of the disease to accelerate, all it means is further lockdowns and further delaying of economic revival.

This warning is being reiterated in these columns and in many public announcements via all the national media because all it takes is for just one among the millions of Sri Lankans to either carelessly or selfishly or ignorantly break the rules and spread the virus. In one case, a single barber caused a viral spread.

An entire naval base with over 4,000 personnel and families in Welisara also had to be locked down. And since it was Navy personnel affected, it meant that the Navy’s contribution to fighting the epidemic was that much weakened. The Security Forces are in the vanguard of the fight against the Coronavirus and they have to take extra steps to ensure their protection. In this context, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a Presidential Task Force to ensure the health security of all Security Forces camps throughout the country. A panel of experts in the Task Force will visit all Forces camps in the country, assess their health security conditions and give any recommendations for improvement. This is a commendable step.

Those of us in the Western Province and the Puttalam district have yet a week more of lockdown before we can also step out. Because the virus is most active in our areas, we will need to be even more disciplined.

The varied curfew regime is itself to be seen as a new lifestyle for the months to come. The rostered allocation of right of movement in public – based on our NIC numbers – will have be understood and rigidly followed if these measures are to have any effect. There will be no point in being lax and then blaming the inevitable repercussions on the measures themselves. We will be to blame, not the system. And if we individually fail, the society is weakened and our social progress beyond this epidemic slowed down.

The Island Editorial

Underutilised govt. labs

Sri Lanka has earned notoriety for the underutilisation of its public assets. The full potential of its bus and train services has not been tapped, and there are many state-owned buildings which have remained vacant for years. Besides, most state ventures are underperforming due to mismanagement. Those who have governed the country for the last several decades, their lackeys appointed to top positions in the state sector and servile bureaucrats should take the blame for this sorry state of affairs. They don’t seem to change their ways, even during a national crisis.

The Health Ministry has said that as many as 1,400 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests were conducted on suspected Covid-19 cases, on Monday; it is the highest number of tests conducted in a single day, since the start of the coronavirus spread, here. This is certainly welcome news in that the success of the ongoing battle against the highly contagious virus hinges on the country’s ability to do mass testing. Had more tests been conducted, at the early stages of the spread of the virus, many more infections could have been detected and the transmission of Covid-19 curbed more effectively. Lockdowns and curfews have to be coupled with aggressive testing, if the virus is to be beaten decisively. South Korea has done so, brought the situation under control, and even conducted an election.

Health authorities deserve praise for their efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but they must be asked why they could not get more PCR tests done, previously, with the help of government labs. The country has enough state-owned laboratory facilities to conduct many more Covid-19 tests, on a daily basis, we are told.

The Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists (SLAGMLT) told the media, the other day, that the Health Ministry had not cared to have the facilities in the state sector fully utilised to have more tests done. It said there were eight laboratories, capable of conducting PCR tests, at the Medical Research Institute, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Colombo North Hospital and the state health institutions in Anuradhapura, Karapitiaya, Ratnapura and Maharagama. All those laboratories could be used 24 hours a day for testing, but only the one in Anuradhapura had received samples for testing, outside the normal working hours, the SLAGMLT said.

It is not possible that the Health Ministry was unaware of the availability of laboratory facilities, at institutions under its purview, for conducting more PCR tests, but, curiously, it sought assistance from some private hospitals to test suspected Covid-19 patients. What did it do so, having refused to grant permission for privately-owned labs to conduct PCR tests?

It is only natural that the Health Ministry’s decision to involve some private hospitals in Covid-19 testing has made its critics smell a rat. The SLAGMLT should be thanked for coming forward to inform the public of the underutilisation of the state medical laboratories and ratchet up pressure on the Health Ministry to get more tests done. Its efforts have apparently yielded the desired results.

Meanwhile, among the carriers of coronavirus are drug addicts, who don’t care two hoots about health guidelines, lockdowns and curfews. Some women were shown on television, a few weeks ago, pleading with the police to save them from their family members addicted to narcotics. The police have told this newspaper that they are keeping tabs on drug addicts’ movements. If so, those elements, who are a curse to their families and the general public, and transmit Covid-19, must be severely dealt with, according to the law. They must also be tested urgently because a drug addict has caused a very high number of infections.

Daily Mirror Editorial

War against Covid 19; Is the Excise Dept. drunk?

Some happy news during this ‘lockdown’ period because of the Covid 19 pandemic is that it has proved to many who are addicted to liquor that drug addiction is a myth.

What is needed is strong discipline and self control. This can be imposed from outside or could come from within the person. Alcoholism and the problems related to it is a major crisis in Sri Lanka. While it is a major health problem leading to deadly non-communicable deceases, it also has created many economical, social and inter-personnel problems specially among the poor and lower-middle class families.

However we saw that when liquor shops were allowed to open on April 20, after a month long curfew, how a large crowd desperately queued up outside liquor shops ignoring the guidelines regarding social distancing and other protective measures. There was so much pressure from the medical experts among others, that the government immediately re-imposed the ban on opening of liquor shops.

All over the world medical practitioners have strongly warned that smoking can lead to Covid 19 infection and also have stressed the link it has with alcohol. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that “alcohol has effects, both short-term and long-term, on almost every single organ of one’s body. And alcohol use, especially heavy use, weakens the immune system and thus reduces the ability to cope with infectious diseases”. The WHO has specifically noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic alcohol should be avoided altogether so that people would not undermine their own immune system and health. They also will not be a risk to health of others.

In this context, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), leading medical professional body strongly condemned a recent statement made by Excise Department’s Deputy Commissioner Kapila Kumarasinghe. He claimed that due to the closure of liquor shops Sri Lankan Government was losing an estimated Rs.15 billion a month by way of tax revenue. The SLMA’s Expert Committee on Tobacco, Alcohol and Illicit Drugs in a strongly worded response, said that the myth of “revenue generation” from alcohol was propagated by the alcohol industry to obtain profits over the dead bodies of its customers.

“What the people of Sri Lanka need now is good nutrition and protection from disease, not spurious alcohol industry friendly arguments from a government agency. The people of this country do not deserve the injuries, accidents, child abuse, domestic violence, depression, suicides, alcohol related strokes, heart attacks, cancers and cirrhosis now. The health sector also does not need an explosion of patients with alcohol related accidents and medical conditions. The police will be thankful for not having to deal with alcohol related incidents and accidents during the coming days and weeks,” the SLMA stated.

Around the world millions die and fall sick from alcohol use. A study conducted by the Ministry of Health and the WHO has shown that the economic costs of alcohol use in Sri Lanka far outweighs the “revenue” generated. Therefore it will be actually profitable to the government keep alcohol selling points closed than keeping them open. However, the Department now seemed to be more concerned about the alcohol trade profiting, rather than the well-being of people and the country, the SLMA said. The Expert Committee has also criticised the Senior Excise officer’s other argument to support the lifting up the ban on liquor shops. He has claimed that illicit liquor trading was gaining ground with home breweries popping up across the country. The SLMA noted that the Excise Department officer seemed to have conveniently forgotten that one of its main functions was to eliminate illicit alcohol production.

“If it has indeed forgotten, it should read the Excise Act carefully again and understand it. Is it admitting in public that it is not equal to the task? Or is it turning a blind eye to such production, to use it as an excuse to open up liquor stores throughout the country, that will only benefit the alcohol trade?” the SLMA said

At this time of turmoil which some analyst have described as something like the World War III with the international enemy being an invisible germ, health sector personnel including doctors, nurses and minor hospital employees are working day and night to save Covid 19 patients. All over the world the number afflicted has topped the three million mark while the number killed is more than 200,000. Other sectors like the police and military are also working tirelessly for the common good of people. It is the duty of all other government departments and private sectors to assist and support the efforts of those who are on the mission to win the war against the invisible monster. We advise Excise Department officials that they should not act like drunkards or alcoholics.