o Health officials threaten to withdraw o PHIs in Colombo denied PCR tests o GMOA demands protective gear o Adequate PPE stocks at hand: MSD By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Health officials yesterday (29) warned the Government that they would withdraw from Covid-19-related services if it failed to protect health staff by providing sufficient personal protection equipment (PPE). A total of 48 public health inspectors (PHIs) at the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), who had direct contacts with suspected Covid-19 cases in Keselwatta and at Bandaranaike Mawatha within the CMC area, had withdrawn from services yesterday after they were denied PCR tests to confirm whether they were infected with the virus or not. In a letter written to the Chief Medical Officer of CMC, the PHIs had informed the Council that they had decided to go for self-quarantining for 14 days considering the history of being exposed to virus-infected residents. Speaking to The Morning, Public Health Inspector’s Union of Sri Lanka (PHIUSL) Secretary M. Balasooriya alleged that the PHIs’ request to test had been rejected by the CMC Chief Medical Officer saying that the tests could be conducted once the symptoms began to show. “We have only around 2,500 PHIs around the country and in an event a group of such PHIs contracted with the virus, there wouldn’t be enough human resources to conduct the service within the country,” he stressed. “PHIs are among those who directly contact suspected cases at the ground level and therefore, it is important to provide them with PPE,” Balasooriya pointed out, adding that at present, the Government had provided PPE for around 20% of the total number of PHIs. Elaborating a recent incident in Narahenpita, the PHIUSL Secretary said that as a set of PHIs have been sent for quarantining, at present, there were no officers to monitor the Kirula Road and Trillium Residence area in Narahenpita. In the meantime, the lack of PPE and the denial of PCR testing for health workers had been raised by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) as they urged the Government to provide necessary facilities and to protect the frontline workers who are struggling to control the spread of the virus. In a statement issued by the GMOA, its Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge had requested the Government to provide all health workers with the necessary PPE and to send them for PCR testing or quarantining considering the exposure to suspected cases. The association, however, has warned that if the Government failed to do so, the GMOA would not hesitate to take action accordingly. However, when contacted by The Morning, Ministry of Health Medical Suppliers Division (MSD) Director Dr. H.M.K.Wickramanayake said the country at present had enough stocks of PPE and the MSD had already taken measures to distribute the necessary stocks to each hospital and military services based on their request. The PPE had been distributed to all 26 Regional Medical Suppliers Divisions (RMSDs) to distribute them to relevant hospitals, he stressed. Commenting on the PHIs, the MSD Director stressed that his division was not directly supplying the PPE to them but based on the request through the Regional Director of Health Services, the necessary stocks had already been distributed. Clarifying the allegations, Chief Medical Officer of Health of the CMC Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni told The Morning that the CMC had conducted three PCR tests on the respective medical officers and two tests on PHIs who had direct contacts with the residents. “The issue arose after the respective doctor requested to conduct the forth test for which I said it is not necessary as all three came negative and the CMC had very limited quota. That was to ensure there was no community transmission and therefore the tests needed to be conducted on residents,” he stressed. Explaining further, Dr. Wijayamuni noted that he had personally explained the situation to the respective doctor but he had decided to self-quarantine when it is not needed. “When he requested to conduct another test, I asked him to wait at least till the symptoms show as the previous tests came negative,” he clarified. However, Dr. Wijayamuni stressed that he had not taken any decision to take disciplinary action against them as yet, even though it was very difficult to operate without adequate staff.