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‘No inter-District travel restrictions or lockdown yet’

23 Apr 2021

  • NOCPCO Head says no decision so far

  • Parts of the country under isolation

  • IDH overflowing; all ICU beds occupied; demand for oxygen surges

By Hiranyada Dewasiri and Pamodi Waravita   As parts of the country are being isolated in a move to prevent the further spread of Covid-19, the Government has not yet decided to impose travel restrictions across Districts, or to impose a nation-wide lockdown. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (22), National Operations Centre for the Prevention of the Covid-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Head and Army Commander, Gen. Shavendra Silva said that no lockdown has been imposed as of yet, and that no decision has been taken regarding inter-District travel restrictions. “No lockdown has been imposed and no decision has been taken about inter-District travel restrictions.” It was reported that the Kuliyapitiya Police area would be under isolation from midnight yesterday, while the Thiththawellagama Grama Niladhari Division in Kurunegala was placed under isolation with immediate effect on 21 April in a bid to prevent the further spread of Covid-19. Meanwhile, representatives of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) said yesterday that the IDH is currently operating above its capacity due to new admissions. Reportedly, the Hospital is accommodating 138 Covid-19 patients, when its capacity only allows for the accommodation of 120. It was also stated that all eight beds in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Hospital are presently occupied. The need for oxygen has also increased, with about 20% of the patients in the Hospital requiring oxygen. According to Hospital sources, the number of infected persons has increased since the Sinhala and Tamil New Year festive season. Issuing a red alert on 20 April, the Health Promotion Bureau said this week that there was a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to ICUs. The Ministry of Health said that a special performance review committee appointed to take strict decisions, which is headed by the Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi, had met on 21 April. The said committee, it is learnt, has taken decisions to take steps to control and respond to the risk of the spread of Covid-19 in the country again. The committee had decided to take decisions on increasing the capacity of ICU beds, to provide high-flow oxygen required for Covid-19 patients, to strengthen the mechanism of data collection, to provide extra personal protective equipment (PPE) kits for health staff, and to formulate a mechanism to refer Covid-19 patients to suitable hospitals based on their various health conditions, to locate more hospitals at the Divisional and District level to treat Covid-19 patients, to provide them with medical facilities to increase the number of daily PCR tests to a minimum of 15,000, to prepare special quarantine regulations for foreign arrivals, and to continue to provide good health care to non-Covid-19 patients in hospitals. So far, Sri Lanka has reported a total of 98,628 cases of Covid-19 and the country has been seeing an increase in the spread of Covid-19 after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.


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