News

Covid-19 pandemic spreads due to lack of a people-based campaign

Published

4 years ago

2021/05/9

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread at an alarming rate in Sri Lanka and in most countries world-wide. This is mainly due to the lack of a people-based campaign with proper leadership. In Sri Lanka the corona virus was introduced into the country by identified individuals coming from abroad. By identifying each case and the contacts who formed a cluster and isolating each cluster for the required period, the spread to the community was prevented.

This was done effectively by Sri Lanka’s good Public Health Service well supported by the Armed Forces. But with a high percentage of those infected not showing any symptoms (maybe as much as 80%), the virus began to spread among the community.

But that stage is well passed and today there is extensive spread among the community island- wide. Community spread began in the Western province with Colombo as the focus. Had there been early recognition of this change, a campaign to create awareness among the public and effective action to perform effective crowd control measures, the spread could have been controlled to a considerable extent. For some strange reason, this was not publicly accepted, as if a natural epidemiological effect was a sign of failure, and the campaign was continued on the basis of the cluster concept.

The Health Service backed by the Police and Armed Services is bearing the brunt of the present campaign. Fever cases are being tested with the PCR and RAT and positives are being hospitalized. Due to shortage of hospital beds, some milder patients are being isolated in their homes. Other public health measures are being implemented. But the epidemic is spreading fast. This is not surprising with the large number of asymptomatic infections in the community. This calls for a community based approach which is carried out nationally. We have a multicultural society and the practices of each community should be accommodated in the campaign.

My first suggestion was that all political leaders be brought into a Covid control committee so that it becomes a National Campaign. This Committee should interact with the Minister of Health both within and outside Parliament in a supportive manner. The most important step is to ensure that the whole community, every household is involved and made fully aware. Intense health education using all media would achieve this in a week or two, from children right up to the elderly. The core message should be that one has to presume that everyone in society is infected, and that for one’s own protection, the three health practices must be carried out: wearing a face mask properly at all times, especially when one goes outside the home, and even at home when any outsiders come in, practice social distancing (two meters is better), and frequent hand washing, especially when touching any object that someone else may have touched.

Avoid crowd gathering. This should be practiced by everyone, with political and social leaders setting the example. The reaction of people in the country should be that if anyone is seen to break the rules, others should point this out to him at once. This practice should prevail in town and village, at home and workplace. Sharing of towels, handkerchiefs, pillows, sheets etc. should stop. Everyone should carry one’s own small hand towel in the pocket or handbag.

A Covid Committee should be established in every village, at street level in every town, and in all workplaces. Besides its preventive role, it must help the family of an infected person, e.g. supply food and other needs, and give moral support. The Committee must ensure that the contacts do not infect anyone else. If any person develops any possible symptoms, the patient should be shown to a doctor at once. The Covid Committee should have a health official like a PHI or Midwife to be in contact.

The Committee should ensure that people do not crowd together. All social and political meetings should not be allowed. Essential meetings should be confined to the smallest number of essential people, who must observe the health guidelines. At the entry and exit to all public places, soap and water with washing facilities must be provided and their use made compulsory. If possible hand washing facilities with 80% alcohol sprays could be provided.

All Government officials, especially the Police, should prevent people crowding together e.g. at shops, bus stands and buses etc.. They should ensure that the three health practices are observed. Stern action should be taken against violators.

The Covid 19 virus is new to the world and there is no herd immunity. We have much through research to learn about it so that we can better control its spread and treat it. The Coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is fairly large (80 to 160mm) and generally multiplies in the human respiratory tract cells. As other coronaviruses can enter our body through the mouth and then multiply in the bowel, this is a theoretical possibility, but any indications to that occurring have not been established to my knowledge. It is generally transferred from an infected person to another person from the nose, mouth and possibly from the eyes through sneezing (nasal secretions) coughing (saliva and respiratory secretions) and tears.

Recent mention has been made of a new variant that can be airborne i.e. be carried by air (currents) just as virus particles. If true, this means that the masks should be able to block the small virus particles, and the social distance rule needs to be further lengthened. But as a single or a few virus particle are unlikely to transfer the infection, we can let events justify the need to take these extreme steps.

As is well known viruses multiply and grow only in specific living cells, in this case those of our respiratory tract. If they fall elsewhere, in a matter of hours they die. Therefore, let us focus on practicing our health rules. But everyone must do this as a habit. In this way, we can protect ourselves and at the same time, protect everyone else. If everybody does this the virus will die out.

Much effort and money is being spent on obtaining vaccines to protect our people. But it usually takes several years, about seven years on an average, before the ideal vaccine that is safe and effective, is developed. What is being offered may or may not work, or be safe considering the short period.

The duration of protection is unknown. It may need to be repeated in a year or two. Even the best vaccine only protects that particular individual (as this is not a live virus). To protect everybody, it must be given to each and every one. Then only will transmission stops. With luck, it may stop with about 80% coverage. Vaccinating those who run the risk of dying (vulnerable people) like the elderly and those with heart and lung disease or debilitating conditions like diabetes, is to be recommended. Those who are exposed to repeated infection like doctors and nurses should be covered. Taking our financial situation as a country and the outcomes, limiting vaccination to vulnerable groups is more sensible.

Prof. Tissa Vitarana

All News Advertisement

News

New education reforms are not only to align education with job market demands but also to cultivate skilled youth who can contribute to the economy and provide leadership to society -Prime Minister

Published

7 hours ago

2025/03/27

Priyan

As part of the series of programmes conducted for schoolchildren by the Presidential Secretariat, the Ministry of Education and the Sri Lanka Parliament Department of Communication, a special Student Parliament session for Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, was held on Tuesday (25) at the Old Parliament Chamber of the Presidential Secretariat. The event was conducted under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

During the session, the student parliament members of Visakha Vidyalaya had the opportunity to gain insights into the conceptual and practical significance of the “Clean Sri Lanka” initiative.

A special commemorative edition of the ‘Vision’ magazine, which focuses on the student Parliament initiative, was presented to the Prime Minister by Nadeeka Dangolla, Assistant Director of Parliamentary Affairs and Executive Functions.

Furthermore, the Principal of Visakha Vidyalaya, Mrs. Manomi Seneviratne, presented a special commemorative token to the Prime Minister.

Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya highlighted that the government’s commitment to implementing new educational reforms aimed at nurturing a generation capable of seizing economic opportunities.

The Prime Minister further stated that the government aims to prepare Sri Lankan children to acquire global knowledge while fostering a self-reliant and empowered future generation.

The Prime Minister stated that the objective of the new education reforms are not only to align education with job market demands but also to cultivate skilled youth who can contribute to the economy and provide leadership to society.

Furthermore, she underscored the government’s commitment to addressing resource disparities among schools and emphasized the significance of civic responsibility in this endeavour.

Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne:
‘Leadership must be devoid of selfishness. Selfless leaders guide both the nation and its people towards a better direction. To achieve this, skills must be enhanced. We can learn about talented leaders from both Sri Lankan history and global history. We should study as children how Chandashoka transformed into Dharmashoka and how Hitler’s regime brought devastation to the world. A nation achieves stability when leaders who prioritize minimal personal consumption and demonstrate a true dedication to their nation arise. Therefore, we must strive to cultivate leaders who can face challenges and prioritize national interests. By fostering selflessness, we can ensure a prosperous future for our people.’

Senior Presidential Media Advisor Mr. Chandana Sooriyabandara:
‘The students gathered here today are not just future leaders; they are leaders already. Leadership knows no age. Anyone who stands for a group could be consider as a leader. Those who exercise the power of the group are considered leaders. Throughout Sri Lankan history, individuals who contributed to the country through their words and actions have played leadership roles. Therefore, logical reasoning should lead the process of making decisions. Both leaders and citizens share the duty to act rationally. You all have a duty to shape a prosperous nation through logical thinking, and this obligation lies with every young person.’

The event was also attended by Deputy Speaker Dr. Rizvie Salih, Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemali Weerasekara, Secretary-General of the Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera, Senior Additional Secretary to the President K.M.N. Kumarasinghe, Director-General of Legal Affairs to the President J.M. Wijebandara, Principal of Visakha Vidyalaya Manomi Seneviratne, along with members of the teaching staff and a group of students.

News

UK sanctions: MR urges govt. to stand by military

Published

8 hours ago

2025/03/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has urged the NPP government to stand by Sri Lanka’s war-winning military. The following is the text of the statement issued by the former President: “The United Kingdom govt. has announced sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against Sri Lanka’s former Chief of Defence Staff Shavendra Silva, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya over unproven allegations of human rights violations during the war with the LTTE. It was I, as the Executive President of Sri Lanka, who took the decision to militarily defeat the LTTE and the armed forces implemented that decision on the ground.

Despite the 2002 ceasefire agreement, the LTTE had carried out 363 killings during the ceasefire between February 2002 and the end of September 2005. LTTE attacks intensified in the first few weeks and months after I was elected President in November 2005. Among the most serious such incidents were claymore mine attacks on 4 and 6 December 2005 in Jaffna that killed 13 soldiers, a suicide attack on a naval craft on 5 January 2006 that killed 15 naval personnel, and the suicide attack on the Army Commander inside Army Headquarters in April 2006.

Despite all that, my government held two rounds of peace talks in January and June 2006, in Geneva and Oslo, which were unilaterally halted by the LTTE. The LTTE landmine attack on a civilian bus in Kebithogollawa in June 2006 which killed 64 and seriously injured 86, many of them children – was a pivotal moment for me and my govt. Military operations commenced in July 2006 when the LTTE closed the Mawilaru anicut, cutting off irrigation water to cultivators in the Trincomalee district, and did not stop until the LTTE was completely defeated on 19 May 2009.

I categorically reject the UK govt.’s allegation of widespread human rights violations during the military operations. Lord Naseby stated in the House of Lords on 12 October 2017 that the then UK Defence Attache in Colombo Lieutenant Colonel Anton Gash had in conversation with him, praised the discipline of the Sri Lanka Army and stated that there certainly was no policy to kill civilians. Because Lt. Col Anton Gash’s war time dispatches to London differ so significantly from the narrative promoted by the UK political authorities, only a heavily redacted version of those dispatches have been released. We conducted military operations only against the LTTE and not against the Tamil people.

Just months after the war ended, when my wartime Army commander came forward as the Opposition candidate at the 2010 presidential elections, the Tamil National Alliance issued a statement on 6 January 2010 appealing to the Tamil people to vote for the former Army commander and he won over 60% of the votes cast in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, thus directly contradicting the narrative being promoted by the UK govt. Imposing sanctions on Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, aka Karuna Amman, who broke away from the LTTE, in 2004, and later entered democratic politics, is a clear case of penalizing anti-LTTE Tamils so as to placate the dominant segment of the Tamil diaspora in the UK.

When the UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband came to Sri Lanka, in April 2009, and demanded a halt to military operations, I flatly turned him down. Later, a London-based newspaper The Telegraph revealed – quoting secret documents made public by Wikileaks – that Mr. Miliband had tried to intervene in Sri Lanka to win Tamil votes for the Labour Party. Regrettably, to this day, vote bank politics determines the UK’s stand on Sri Lanka’s war against the LTTE.

Three decades of LTTE terrorism claimed the lives of 27,965 armed forces and police personnel not to mention the lives of many thousands of civilians, including politicians. What Sri Lanka defeated in 2009 was the organization that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had officially designated as the deadliest terrorist organization in the world. It is noteworthy that the United Kingdom introduced special legislation in 2021 and 2023 to protect their own armed forces from persecution by interested parties.

Hence I expect the present government to resolutely stand by and defend former armed forces personnel who face persecution by foreign governments and organisations for doing their duty to safeguard Sri Lanka’s national security.”

News

Jet crash: Deputy Defence Minister, too, contradicts Minister Ratnayake

Published

8 hours ago

2025/03/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

Deputy Defence Minister Maj. Gen. (Retd) Aruna Jayasekera, on Tuesday (25), said that Air Force investigation into the 21 March K-8 advanced jet crash had not been concluded.

Jayasekera was responding to a media query. The media sought the Maj. Gen’s comments in the wake of Transport Minister and Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake’s declaration that the crash had been caused by pilot error.

The Air Force Headquarters has already contradicted Minister Ratnayake’s unsubstantiated claim. The qualified instructor and the trainee ejected before the ill-fated aircraft, attached to the Katunayake-based No 05 squadron, crashed at Wariyapola.