brand logo

Avurudu amid Covid-19 pandemic: Celebrating with caution

11 Apr 2021

Last year around this time, Sri Lankans had to celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year within the confines of their own homes, as the first wave of Covid-19 affected the entire country. People were not able to visit their extended family for Avurudu or even have guests over at their homes since the whole country was undergoing quarantine lockdown and travelling between districts was prohibited. This year, however, the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) has issued a set of Covid-19 preventive health guidelines to be followed by the general public, so that they could celebrate Avurudu with their extended families. “We urge the public to celebrate the festivities and observe the Avurudu traditions and rituals at home with their close family, and have also requested to minimise visiting relatives and exchanging Avurudu sweetmeats with neighbours, as well as refrain from hosting Avurudu games and events that will require the gathering of large groups,” DGHS Dr. Asela Gunawardena noted. Dr. Gunawardena also stated that for those who wish to host small gatherings, instructions have been issued with specific health guidelines that they will have to follow to ensure any activities that are carried out during the Avurudu season will not become a mode of transmission for Covid-19.   No lockdown Amid all that, there seems to be speculation among the public that the country might go into another lockdown during this Avurudu season. When The Sunday Morning contacted National Operation Centre for Prevention of Covid-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Head and Army Commander Gen. Shavendra Silva, he explained: “There is no decision to place the country under quarantine lockdown or impose travel restrictions on the public. However, according to instructions by the Ministry of Health and the DGHS, there will be random antigen tests carried out on those who are leaving the Western Province during the Avurudu season.” Gen. Silva further reiterated that since the Covid-19 virus is still prevalent in the country, the public should at all times follow the health guidelines that have been issued through the Ministry of Health when they are travelling in public transport and going to public spaces.   Different ground realities However, The Sunday Morning learnt that the guidelines that were issued by the DGHS were not well received by public health inspectors (PHIs), as elaborated by PHI’s Union President M.G.U. Rohana. “There are several activities that have been prohibited and several activities that are allowed. But there are activities that have not been mentioned, for which the public requires answers from us. Due to these discrepancies, we have decided that we will not be involved in the monitoring process on whether people are following guidelines when taking part in Avurudu games, as we do not want to have any misunderstanding,” Rohana said. Speaking further about holding Avurudu uthsawa (festivals), the PHI’s Union President said that seeking permission to host an event during the Avurudu season is not compulsory as mentioned in the guidelines. “That means, if someone is to organise an event in a village or town, the area PHI, the Medical Officer of Health (MOH), or the area police will not necessarily know that an event is taking place there. Such incidents would definitely put the public’s health at risk, given that we are still having daily deaths and new infections of Covid-19,” he explained. He further elaborated that if the health guidelines are not properly followed and should an asymptomatic person decide to take part in many of these Avurudu games, the Avurudu uthsawa could be a ground for the spread of Covid-19. Rohana also pointed out that the general health guidelines that have been issued to prevent the spread of Covid-19 states that a religious place can only host 25 devotees at a time for prayers. However, these guidelines had been clearly ignored, as was evident during the Good Friday and Easter Sunday services, where more than 25 devotees had attended mass. “The public does not care for the guidelines that are being issued for the festive season. They only want to know whether they are allowed to have the Avurudu uthsawaya this time. Even if you take the other guidelines which have been published as a handbook by the Ministry of Health, not even 5% of the guidelines are actively followed on the ground level,” Rohana noted.   Past observances When asked about what the PHIs have observed from past incidents and the advice they could offer to the public, Rohana noted: “One of the most notable incidents of Covid-19 spreading from people who travelled outside Colombo was observed during the Deepavali festive season in October 2020. The subcluster that was created in the Nuwara Eliya District during that period is still active.” Rohana noted that similarly, the Covid-19 cases outside the Western Province once again showed an increase after January 2021, as people had travelled outside the province to other areas for holidays and contributed to spreading the virus. The PHI’s Union President also reiterated that although a considerable amount of people from the Western Province have been vaccinated, that does not mean the immunity of the entire country is secured. “Even though the persons testing positive for Covid-19 is reducing, there are still persons being infected. The biggest concern is that there are factories that continue to operate, even though they are still reporting that workers continue to contract the virus. Once the factories close for Avurudu holidays, these workers go back to their hometowns. There lies a possibility that some of these workers could be asymptomatic as well, which means we will have to anticipate an increase in Covid-19 cases in the first week of May,” Rohana noted.   Health over festivities Meanwhile, Police Media Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana, weighing in on the level of preparation that the Police, the Ministry of Health, and other relevant stakeholders had taken before putting down the guidelines, said: “Since 10 March, we have been taking part in discussions on how we could allow the public to celebrate Avurudu this year without much of a hindrance. However, the guidelines have been issued to ensure the safety of the public and to stop the spread of Covid-19. As the Police, we have a responsibility towards assisting the healthcare authorities to implement these guidelines and ensuring that the public is made aware to follow the guidelines when they are in public places.” DIG Rohana also emphasised that it is not necessary to host Avurudu uthsawa as it used to be and it would be better to refrain from organising such public events. Instead, he advised that families can still celebrate Avurudu by observing the traditional rituals with close family members at home. “We also need to remind the public that Covid-19, which has a high prevalence in the Western Province, started to spread to other parts of the island during festival seasons following the country opening up from lockdown. That was because many who were employed in the Western Province travelled to their hometowns to celebrate festivities such as Deepavali, Christmas, and Thai Pongal. It was following these festivals that we observed subclusters of Covid-19 being created,” DIG Rohana explained.


More News..