The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) requested the public to follow preventive measures during the coming Vesak festival season as there has been a slight increase in the number of reported Covid-19 patients these days.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (1), GMOA Spokesperson Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe said that people who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 should pay more attention to this matter and follow the relevant safety precautions.
“According to the data that we receive, there is an increase in the number of Covid-19 patients these days. In addition to respiratory diseases, there is also an increase in the number of reported Covid-19 cases. Especially during the last Sinhala and Tamil New Year season, a large number of people came out of their homes to celebrate. We observed that many people had not taken safety measures. Even though they were vaccinated, many people have not received full vaccination. For those reasons, there is a risk of a further increase in this situation. People must be responsible to not let this situation become another Covid-19 wave,” he said.
He further said that, as the vaccination programme is halted everywhere in the Island, people should pay more attention to this issue than ever before. “Imported vaccines are removed when they expire. As far as I know, vaccination is not happening anywhere in Sri Lanka at the moment. So, the public needs to pay close attention to this. Especially social groups like infants, children, pregnant females, and elderly people should be more careful in this situation. We instruct people to wear face masks again and to maintain social distance as much as possible. The public should take care as many essential medicines are not available in hospitals. It is therefore necessary to be more attentive during the upcoming festive season,” he said.
According to Covid-19 related reports from the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiological Unit, three people died from Covid-19 and 32 people tested positive in Sri Lanka during 17–24 April. The latest Covid-19 deaths and the emergence of severe cases are reported in the Jaffna District. According to a press release issued on 26 April by the Department of Government Information, four more individuals had tested positive for Covid-19 on 25 April. That has brought the total number of Covid-19 cases detected in the country, since the outbreak of the pandemic in late 2019, to 672,143. Out of this total, more than 655,000 recovered, while over 16,800 succumbed to the viral infection.