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Pros and cons of relaxing restrictions

07 Nov 2020

Despite public assurances that the rampaging Covid-19 pandemic is under control in Sri Lanka, video recordings of the Minister of Health and several other ministers fervently seeking divine intervention to contain the worsening situation has got the grapevine buzzing.  The video, which went viral, first led to an explosion of humour and mirth on social media, but has now given way to serious concern on the actual ground situation. To make matters worse, when questioned in Parliament over the unusual methods adopted by the Health Minister and other ministers to contain the crisis, Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi responded saying that she was even willing to sacrifice her life by jumping into the sea, if it would make Covid go away.  While the Health Minister and her ministerial colleagues, just as every other citizen in this country, has the right to engage in their personal beliefs and worship any deity, the issue here was whether those praying had done what was necessary before seeking divine intervention. Not surprisingly, the Opposition seized the opportunity to draw attention to this fact and subsequent revelations shed light on the health sector’s state of readiness to tackle the virus.  The question being asked by the man on the street these days is that if, as the Health Minister has consistently maintained thus far, at least in public, everything is hunky dory with regard to the containment of the pandemic in Sri Lanka, why go to the extreme length of offering to sacrifice her life just to bring things under control? Considering the Minister’s actions in private and utterings in public, it didn’t take long for the grapevine to buzz. Something simply didn’t add up and the people have every reason to be worried.  Today, the Health Ministry is facing a barrage of criticism for the manner in which it has handled the second wave of Covid-19, even though it very successfully handled the first wave. The criticism has emanated from government doctors themselves, who have taken the extraordinary step of distancing themselves from some of the measures taken by the Health Ministry.  It appears that despite the initial success, the general election that intervened between the first and second wave, caused institutional complacency that led to the authorities being caught on the wrong foot when the second wave suddenly erupted early last month. When the concern of whether new testing hardware had been purchased since March was brought up in Parliament, the Health Minister retorted that 200 new ventilators had been inducted into service in the past few months, only to be reminded that these machines were a gift from the US.  Given that there were just 3,000-odd cases and 10 reported deaths during the six-month period from March to September, there is every indication to suggest that the health authorities took the situation for granted, simply going by data. Then when the Minuwangoda cluster exploded in early October, they were caught off guard and are still scrambling to get a grip of things.  The lesson to be learnt from this episode is that until such time a vaccine is widely available, neither the health authorities nor the people can afford the luxury of being complacent. Covid-19 has the potential to pop up in the most unexpected of places at the most unexpected of times, and within days cause havoc across the country. This is why even though the Government is looking at relaxing curfew restrictions now in place in the most affected areas, it is always better to be on guard.  In this endeavour, it is important that the health authorities get on board. The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) which, as of now, does not seem to see eye-to-eye with the Ministry. Their grouse is that the opinion of the Association has not been sought on key matters and even when it was in fact sought, their suggestions and opinions have not been given due consideration. In hindsight, much of the credit for controlling the first wave of the pandemic is owed to the GMOA which was on the ball from day one in working with the authorities to control the spread of the pandemic.  All that is now water under the bridge. The GMOA’s consistent call for increasing testing capacity has received attention only after the advent of the second wave. Up until that point, the authorities had been content on only mobilising equipment received as donations.  Since the first week of October, the number of cases has increased by a whopping 400% and the number of deaths has increased by 200%. The 3,000-plus cases at the beginning of October has in a matter of five weeks shot up to over 12,000 cases, while the 10 deaths at the beginning of October has shot up to 29 as at last Friday. These are worrisome figures by any yardstick and one cannot blame the Health Minister for seeking divine intervention.  With the situation being what it is, many are questioning the prudence of relaxing curfew restrictions, even though economic considerations warrant it. While the request to strictly adhere to health guidelines is reasonable enough, it is a lot to be asking from a people who are habitually used to breaking the rules. From observing traffic rules to such mundane things as taking one's place in a queue, we are a people who, given the opportunity, will not hesitate to bend the rules. The only problem with Covid is that one does not get to bend the rules. Either you adhere to the guidelines or fall victim to the virus. There is no way out by bribing a policeman or a healthcare worker. When one falls, they are likely to take many others with them, which from any point of view is a recipe for disaster.  As of last week, major countries in Europe like the UK, France, Italy, and Germany have gone back into lockdown mode in order to control record numbers of new cases. We, on the other hand, despite the increasing numbers with a daily average of 400 or so new cases, are toying with the idea of relaxing restrictions already in place. While the reason for doing so is obvious, it will be a Herculean challenge for the authorities to keep people safe while at the same time keeping the economy ticking.  One of the main reasons for easing curfew restrictions is to enable daily-wage earners to go about their business. However, given the strict guidelines, one wonders whether business establishments will be willing to run the risk of employing persons who are exposed to risks while travelling. On the flip side, if people adhere to the guidelines, work from home, and stop going out, the services of daily wage earners could well become redundant – which is why these individuals need to be identified and relief measures announced by the Government must be made available to them.  The past 10 months of this year have shown that the only successful way to contain Covid-19 is to isolate people from each other. How it is done is up to the authorities. If Sri Lanka wants to buck this trend, then it should also be ready to face any eventuality. Given the recent record, the Government would do well to err on the side of caution.       

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