Covid-19 under control:

by Suresh Perera

The Covid-19 pandemic in the Western province is now under control with small but manageable clusters emerging from time to time which is inevitable in a situation where society is ‘open’ with people getting about their day-to-day chores, a senior health official said.

The number of positive Coronavirus cases have dipped to a daily average of around 500 with the Western province contributing only about 20% to 30% to the overall figure, says Dr. Hemantha Herath, Deputy Director of Public Health Services.

With figures relating to positive cases now static, there’s an improvement in the situation in the province.

However, this does not mean there’s no room for fresh clusters to surface as the spread of the virus is being fought sans a lockdown in the country, he noted.

“Though ‘positive’ cases remain static, it is still too early to say how the transmission pattern will play out because people continue to move about without any restrictions”, Dr. Herath outlined.

He said the small clusters which surfaced one or two months ago have now been controlled. “The crux of the matter is that we have been able to bring the situation under control in the Western province”.

With ‘positive’ numbers spiking in Colombo earlier, public health officers were struggling to arrest the growing trend of transmission of the virus, but now the situation is under control, the senior medical official said.

With the spread of the deadly virus largely declining, the lockdown imposed on many areas of Colombo have been lifted. The latest area where restrictions were eased last week was Kotahena (Colombo 13).

However, though the lockdown in Maradana (Colombo 10) was lifted, restrictions are still in place at the Maligawatte Housing Scheme.

“We have been under lockdown since November 9”, a resident said.

Though it was announced that the lockdown was lifted, the police continue to disallow people to venture out of the housing complex until the process of PCR screening is completed, he said.

“One member of each family has been asked to report to the Maligawatte police station to undergo PCR tests”, he added.

Dr. Herath said that areas considered ‘vulnerable’ and ‘high risk’ have to be cleared before the lockdown is eased to prevent infected persons posing a threat to people in other areas.

“We are doing it on a step-by-step basis”, he added.