Sri Lanka Covid-19: Medical Associations Warn Of Catastrophe If Travel Restrictions Aren’t Tightened

By Pooja Shrivastava

Four medical associations of Sri Lanka have written to President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa informing him that a major catastrophe would ensue if strict travel restrictions are not imposed to control the Covid epidemic in the country. 

The letter says that the death toll could rise in the next three weeks and beyond as there are already significant delays in providing hospital beds and treatment to infected people. It also mentions that if the spread of the disease is not brought under control immediately, the cost of suppression of the disease will increase significantly in the future.

The letter is signed by the Specialist Dr. Padma Gunaratne, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association; Specialist Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya, President of the Government Medical Officers’ Association; Specialist Dr. Lakkumar Fernando, President of the Association of Specialist Physicians; and Prof. Tamasi Makuloluwa of the Inter-College Committee of the Sri Lanka Medical Association.

As of now, all public events are stopped until May 20 since no gatherings are allowed. However, the authorities have come under fire for failure to order a lockdown to try and contain the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the country on Saturday (8) detected its first case of the Indian variant of coronavirus, also known as B.1.617. The infected person has just returned from India and in a quarantine centre. The declaration was made by the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayewardenapura. 

On Monday (10), the island nation recorded over 2,600 coronavirus cases, the highest-ever single-day count recorded so far since the pandemic began last year. The country has over 121,000 coronavirus infections with over 101,000 recoveries since the onset of the pandemic in March last year.