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Health officials maintain alert

09 Feb 2020

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Health officials continue to maintain the alert over the novel coronavirus with urgently needed medical supplies, which were not available initially, now being purchased and in stock. The Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services (MoH) said that the situation in Sri Lanka was under control with a single patient, a 43-year-old Chinese national who arrived from the Hubei Province of China, being the only confirmed case of coronavirus in Sri Lanka. Officials stated that the patient has now recovered. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, MoH Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Anil Jasinghe said that even though there was only one reported case in Sri Lanka, the threat was not fully eliminated as the virus was still spreading in China, killing more than 500 people as at Friday (7). Things under control “The situation in Sri Lanka is now under control, but it (the spreading of the virus) is not yet over. Therefore, health authorities will keep monitoring the situation until it is completely over,” Dr. Jasinghe said, pointing out that the Government had already taken all the necessary steps to mitigate the virus from spreading. According to the DGHS, the process was complicated and all health services are working around the clock to avoid any possible outbreak in Sri Lanka. When The Sunday Morning queried as to whether there was any shortage of necessary health equipment and drugs, Dr. Jasinghe noted the necessary drugs and equipment are at the moment readily available. He said that having a shortage during an outbreak was completely normal and not limited only to Sri Lanka. “Even in the US, there are shortages. None of the countries in the world are fully prepared for such situations and from time to time, shortages could occur. But in Sri Lanka, as of now, the Government has taken all the necessary steps to prevent any shortage. We are fully prepared now,” Dr. Jasinghe assured. As of Friday, the death toll in Mainland China stood at 630 while the number of confirmed infections was at 31,532, out of which 4,826 were severe cases. A total of 1,740 persons have recovered from the virus. The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is affecting 28 countries and territories around the world. In contrast, Sri Lanka had 16 men and women under medical observation – three at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo, two each at the Kandy National Hospital (Teaching) and Colombo North Teaching Hospital (Ragama), and one each at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, Negombo Base Hospital, Gampaha District General Hospital, Badulla Provincial General Hospital, Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, and Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Still keeping an eye The Chinese woman treated at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH) in Angoda has fully recovered and remains in the hospital under medical observation. When The Sunday Morning asked DGHS Dr. Jasinghe about her situation, he said he was not sure of a date on which the patient could be discharged from the hospital. “It’s really difficult to predict a date. We are still monitoring her situation; she is recovering and her condition is good so far. But we will need to monitor her for a few more days before she is discharged from the hospital,” he added. Meanwhile, Minister of Healthcare and Indigenous Medical Services Pavithra Wanniarachchi also assured that the air and sea monitoring of all arrivals, including Chinese people, would continue even though there were no travel bans imposed by the Government. Referring to the effect on Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, Wanniarachchi stressed that the number of arrivals from China had drastically dropped. For instance, there were only 46 tourists from China on Wednesday (5) and 30 by Thursday (6), as opposed to around 1,500 tourists under normal circumstances. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently declared the ongoing coronavirus outbreak as a global health emergency, as the spread of the virus reached nearly two dozen countries, sickened thousands, and impacted both travel and businesses around the world since it started last month. The official requested the public not to be alarmed unnecessarily and to follow the instructions issued by the MoH. Also, DGHS Dr. Jasinghe advised the public to take immediate action and go to the nearest hospital if they develop any symptoms which could lead to coronavirus.

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