Opinion

The third wave: Has the horse bolted?

Published

5 years ago

2021/04/24

Sri Lankans are well known to have a short memory. Since March 2020 the country had to face two waves of Covid-19 epidemics and the second one was more devastating than the previous one. In the first wave all were interested in preventing it further spreading, and despite three small spikes in April, May and July, we managed with just around 3400 patients and 13 deaths until the end of September 2020. Then the so called Brandix-Minuwangoda outbreak occurred in the first week of October. Unfortunately, although local measures were adequate with lockdowns and movement restrictions, hospitalizations, PCR testing, contact tracing, etc., we missed the bigger picture. In fact, some health officials had a brazen disregard to sentiments expressed by local politicians who envisaged that the outbreak could spread to Colombo by declaring that it would never come to Colombo. In the history of epidemics, it is well known that travellers carried the disease even across continents.

What should have been done, at that time was to press the panic button in Colombo to alert the public and private institutions so that they would not allow anyone to come to work not only from Minuwangoda but from the whole Gampaha district. That did not happen and then the disease moved to Peliyagoda and then to the opposite shore of the River Kelani i.e., Colombo North. There too the authorities were too late to identify the magnitude of the disaster until the total number of patients reached 1000 in Colombo. So why is Colombo important. For all the communicable diseases Colombo can be a centre through which the disease could spread to other parts of the country through passengers to the outskirts. If measures were taken to mitigate the damage from the beginning when it was in Minuwangoda we would not have ended up with 98000 patients as of now and nearly a hundred of patients mostly from poorer quarters in the city would not have to die from the disease inside their homes without any medical help. However, the numbers came down gradually as any epidemic goes away with time and all were happy: Masks were forgotten, social distancing a thing of the past, handwashing-well the basins were there but no one was using. It is not the PCR testing or the vaccinations that can stop a third wave but proper mass communications, strict travel regulations from one area to another, masks, social distancing and handwashing, etc.

Just before the New Year in April there were reports of a new mutant variant circulating in the city. But who cared? Lack of experience in handling epidemics was shown in no uncertain terms again. What the authorities should have done was to put an immediate ban on festivities, travelling to other areas, social gatherings etc. Leading clothing stores in the city, had people pushing each other to get in with no crowd control. Where were the PHIs? Outside the city for example Pamunuwa, Nuwara-Eliya has mass influx of people from various areas either for shopping or holidaying and precautions were hardly taken. This was the time when in the UK, the lockdowns continued as it is a known fact when spring starts more people are susceptible to viruses. Now weeks into April,in this country we find that the numbers of Covid-19 patients are on the increase, the ICUs are full, the younger ones are admitted more than the over 50s, the latter because it is these people who were more mobile during the past two-three weeks.

Is this the beginning of the third wave? May be as the Sri Jayewardenepura University says the variant is different from the previous ones and is the same UK variant B 1.1.7. which has a greater transmissibility of 40-80% than with the previously identified variants and with a bigger death-rate. It has been in this country since February this year and detected from various parts in the country. How did that happen? With the numbers of patients increasing and the symptoms more severe, the question is whether this the beginning of the third wave. If this is the case then the horse has bolted and maybe it is too late to close the stables. Time will give us the answer.

Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam

Former Chief Medical Officer of Health/CMC

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Opinion

Those who play at bowls must look out for rubbers

Published

41 mins ago

2026/01/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should listen at least to the views of the Mothers’ Front on proposed educational reforms.

I was listening to the apolitical views expressed by the mothers’ front criticising the proposed educational reforms of the government and I found that their views were addressing some of the core questionable issues relevant to the schoolchildren, and their parents, too.

They were critical of the way the educational reforms were formulated. The absence of any consultation with the stakeholders or any accredited professional organisation about the terms and the scope of education was one of the key criticisms of the Mothers’ Front and it is critically important to comprehend the validity of their opposition to the proposed reforms. Further, the proposals do include ideas and designs borrowed from some of the foreign countries which they are now re-evaluating in view of the various shortcomings which they themselves have encountered. On the subject, History, it is indeed unfortunate that it has been included as an optional, whereas in many developed countries it is a compulsory subject; further, in the module the subject is practically limited to pre-historic periods whereas Sri Lanka can proudly claim a longer recorded history which is important to be studied for the students to understand what happened in the past and comprehend the present.

Another important criticism of the Mothers’ Front was the attempted promotion of sexuality in place of sex education. Further there is a visible effort to promote trans-gender concepts as an example when considering the module on family unit which is drawn with two males and a child and two females and a child which are nor representative of Sri Lankan family unit.

Ranjith Soysa

Opinion

Seeds of discord

Published

43 mins ago

2026/01/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

When the LTTE massacred people, mostly Sinhalese Buddhists, government leaders never claimed that the Tamil community, which the LTTE claimed to represent, was driven by hatred. That restraint mattered. That is why it was outrageous to hear President Anura Kumara Dissanayake tell Tamils that Buddhists visiting the North to worship were doing so out of spite. If reports are accurate, the President also declared that we needed a prosperous nation free of racism and united in spirit. Yet, in the same breath he sowed seeds of division recklessly.

Had he spoken in Tamil or English, some might have dismissed it as a slip of the tongue. But in Sinhala, the words carried unmistakable intent. Who could have expected such divisive rhetoric to come from the head of a nation now enjoying fragile coexistence, after enduring a 30‑year war and two insurrections that devastated the economy?

A Ratnayake

Opinion

Where are we heading?

Published

43 mins ago

2026/01/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

The Island editorial, dated 22 January, 2026, under the title ‘Conspiracy to subvert constitutional order,’ is an eye-opener to those who supported the so-called Äragalaya in July 2022 and those who voted to bring the current regime into power with various positive expectations, including ‘ a system change’. ( https://island.lk/conspiracy-to-subvert-constitutional-order/ )

The editorial highlighted, with irrefutable evidence, how a foreign diplomat and a group of Sri Lankans, consisting of some religious leaders (a Buddhist monk, some Catholic priests) and a trade unionist, made a blatantly illegal bid to pressure the then Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to take over the executive presidency in violation of the Constitution. The intention of the intimidator tactics was said to be to create in Sri Lanka a situation similar to that in Libya.

The editorial also mentioned how Minister K.D. Lal Kantha and his JVP attempted to lead the Aragalaya protestors to capture Parliament, but without success. Addressing a public rally, under the title ‘Let’s read Lenin’, a few days ago, Minister Lal Kantha has revealed that their planning was to follow what Lenin had said and done during the Russian revolution. Minister Lal Kantha said: “We do not have the power of the State although we managed to obtain the power of the Government. Hence, we are now engaged in the struggle to win the power of the State’’.

In a democratic society, there is a need to ensure maintaining Law and Order without any state interference. It looks like the intention of the Minister is to bring the Police, Armed Forces and the Judiciary, including all the State Services, under direct control of the ruling party, by filling those positions with JVP loyalists to suppress the opponents of the government.

There is also an attempt by the JVP-led forces to remove the Attorney General by making unsubstantiated allegations against him. As per a latest news item in The Island, under the title “Opposition slams sitting HC judge’s appointment as Justice Ministry additional Secretary”, is alleging President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of trying to control the judiciary by appointing a sitting High Court judge as Additional Secretary to the Justice and National Integration Ministry. (https://island.lk/opposition-slams-sitting-hc-judges-appointment-as-justice-ministry-additional-secretary/)

On the other hand, the ruling party is trying to appoint one of their cronies as Auditor General, possibly, to cover up a number of questionable deals made during the year they ruled and to ensure achieving the so-called power of the State.

Unless the people, especially those who naively dreamt of ‘a system change’, have a clear understanding of the ultimate goal and motives of the ongoing changes and take appropriate actions to protect their own democratic rights, they will be left with no other alternative but to live under a repressive government.

Sangadasa Akurugoda