Expert: Lockdowns not effective unless coupled with aggressive testing

By Rathindra Kuruwita

It was difficult to say whether the lockdown had helped reduce the transmission of coronavirus because of the drop in testing and changes in how deaths are reported, Executive Director of the Institute for Health Policy (IHP), Dr Ravi Rannan-Eliya told The Island yesterday.

Those developments had made it very difficult to assess the trend in infections, he said, adding that it was quite possible transmission had increased.

“One sign of this is the steady rise in the fatality rate. It is clear that the lockdown failed to curb the spread of the virus or to put us on a path to ending this outbreak. Further, I am quite sure that the lockdown and other measures adopted so far will not be sufficient to stop the spread of the Delta variant which we will most likely face in the next few months.”

Dr. Rannan-Eliya said that it was not surprising as global scientific evidence showed lockdowns had to be coupled with aggressive testing and isolation. Since Sri Lanka also reduced testing during the lockdown period, it was not surprising from a scientific point of view that the lockdown was not very effective, he said.

“Further, the lockdown was not properly planned; there are in fact much better ways making lockdowns more effective in stopping the viral transmission without causing so much of suffering to the public.”

The IHP Executive Director said that unless the government and health experts took testing seriously, Sri Lanka would not succeed in controlling the pandemic.