News
Country on verge of community spread, warns GMOA
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Sri Lankan health sector would plunge into a crisis if a cluster larger than the one found at the Peliyagoda Fish Market emerged, Editor of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA,) Dr. Haritha Aluthge said.
Currently, Sri Lanka was dealing with several active COVID-19 clusters, Aluthge said. “The first was the Minuwangoda cluster, followed by the Peliyagoda Fish Market cluster. Clusters emerged from Agalawatte, Kuliyapitiya and now Kahathuduwa. All these clusters are still active. If we have another large cluster like the one at the Fish Market, we will be in serious trouble,” he said.
The relevant officials had a responsibility to ensure that other new clusters didn’t emerge, he said. “Every day close to 500 cases were detected and it was also obvious that most of the new detections were not directly linked to the Minuwangoda or Peliyagoda clusters.”
Dr. Aluthge said the country was on the verge of a community spread and unless drastic action was taken to curb the spread, the health system would be overwhelmed. If Sri Lanka reached the community spread stage, ICUs and hospitals would not be sufficient and deaths would rise exponentially, he said.
Three COVID-19 patients died on Monday bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 19.
On Monday, Head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama warned that if the situation was not brought under control urgently, the people who were prone to complications with pre-existing conditions would be in danger.
“This is what we saw on Tuesday. Those who died either had a pre-existing condition or were old. We have a lot of people with non-communicable diseases in this country. That is why health professionals have been urging those in power to take steps to curb NCDs.”
Govt. to provide monthly assistance package – official
By Ifham Nizam
Plans are underway to assist an average needy family of four with a monthly package of Rs. 15,000, a senior adviser to President Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday, adding that the move was expected to help ameliorate the plight of nearly 65,000 families.
Food Security Committee Chairman Dr. Suren Batagoda told The Island yesterday that at present some 100,000 families across the country were starving.
He said financial assistance would be provided to those families for three months. Within three months, the government would design a package in the form of food stamps, etc.
Dr. Batagoda said the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the World Bank, and state agencies would also team up to strengthen food security, focusing especially on needy pregnant mothers and pre-school children.
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government had ignored suggestions by Chinese lending institutions that Sri Lanka to restructure the debt in 2021, Prof. Samitha Hettige said yesterday.
“The Rajapaksa government started talking of debt restructuring earlier this year. The Opposition had been asking for this before,” he said. By 2021, before the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration decided on debt restructuring, the Chinese institutions that had given Sri Lanka loans suggested that a restructuring process should start since Sri Lanka would have trouble repaying the loans, the Strategic Studies scholar said.
However, the request had gone unheeded, and if the government had started discussions then, Sri Lanka would not have been in crisis, Prof. Hettige said.
The Sri Lankan foreign policy, in the last few years, had also been misguided, Prof. Hettige said. A number of Indian and Chinese companies faced unnecessary issues by the behaviour of the government, he said.
Prof. Hettige said that the government must focus on establishing free trade ports and reducing negative lists for investments.
By Chaminda Silva
MP Sarath Fonseka’s call for people to join anti-government protests was not a decision taken by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), party MP J.C Alawathuwala said.
The SJB believed that they had to help President Ranil Wickremesinghe stabilise the country, economically and politically, he said.
MP Alawathuwala said the President must be given some time to solve the problems faced by the people and that the SJB was holding discussions with the government to guide it on a people-friendly path.
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