By Saman Indrajith

The JVP led National Intellectuals’ Orgnisation yesterday warned that the number of COVID-19 patients in the Colombo District had doubled during the last four weeks and if the government did not get its act together there would be no Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations in April.

Addressing the media at NIO office in Battarmulla, NIO Chairman Prof Chandana Abeyratne said 6,903 COVID-19 patients had been reported from the Colombo District four weeks back and the number had climbed to 15,168. “This is a dangerous trend. A new strain of coronavirus has been detected in England. London and South East England have been locked down. Most European countries stopped flights to/from London and there is a trend of increased spread in the winter. In Sri Lanka too the increase in the number of patients is rapid. The government should at least now take this matter seriously if it has any concerns about the lives of the people.”

Pro. Abeyratne said that the government allowed the propaganda of locally produced syrup as a remedy for COVID-19 because it had no other means to tackle the pandemic. “The government should commence a systematic procedure and should prevent the myths being propagated because people without help will cling onto anything like the herbal syrup which has later been proved a hoax. If it fails to get its act together in facing the pandemic, there would be no Sinhala and Tamil new year celebrations in April.”

NIO member Prof Krishantha Abeysena said: “The government’s anti-COVID-19 drive is now leaderless. Dr Sudharshani Fernandopulle was recently appointed the State Minister of COVID-19 Prevention. But all statutory bodies fighting the pandemic are under a separate minister. She has no power. The Army Commander is now doing the job of a media spokesman. Assistance of the tri forces, the police and all others is needed to fight this pandemic and there should be a centralised mechanism for this purpose. There is no coordination among health sector organisations in fighting the pandemic. We have a strong community health service but it should be properly led and managed with coordination of other sectors to get results. We must all get together and urge the government to make a course correction as regards its anti-COVID-19 campaign.”

NIO Secretary retired Epidemiologist Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe said: “We should learn from the situation in other countries facing the same threat. There is a possibility of a pandemic turning worse and the death toll increasing exponentially. The number of COVID-19 cases in this country has increased 13 times within the past 10 weeks. So, there is the danger the death toll increasing during the next few days. The most important thing at present is to reduce the number of deaths. The majority of COVID-19 patients here die due non-communicable diseases. There should be decisive action to prevent those who are suffering from NCDs from contracting the virus. As per records of the Department of Census and Statistics one out of every three persons above 60 years of age is suffering from high blood pressure. One out of every six in that age group is suffering from heart disease or cholesterol or diabetes. Some have more than one disease. These are the most vulnerable from the COVID-19 virus. As at now there are more than 8,800 in hospitals suffering from the pandemic. So, the hospital staff members are working without a break for the past 10 weeks. These are serious issues.”