Sri Lanka and the entire world are walking towards a very dangerous situation for the fourth or fifth time. Winter is making a huge impact on COVID-19 situation in some foreign countries while selfishness and ignorance has a huge impact on the growing COVID-19 threat here in Sri Lanka. While it is possible to keep the country open and live as usual without any trouble, the Sri Lankan people are pushing the country hard towards the danger again and again. This time they are doing it faster than ever before. This is an extremely pathetic situation because some innocent poor people who follow all health guidelines all the time in order to protect them and others will die due to the selfishness and ignorance of others. They will pay the price for the fault of others.
The number of COVID-19 infections is increasing dangerously in the world and in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka started to report around 500 COVID-19 cases daily with the control achieved by the health authorities over the disease. But this number increased up to around 600 just after three or four weeks from the date of opening the country and the figure recorded above 700 by last week. It will definitely pass the 800 mark within another one or two weeks and it could reach the 1,000 mark by mid-December. Usually we experienced a drastic increase just after the festive seasons but this time this drastic increase will be recorded even before the festive season which comes by the end of the next month.
Health guidelines
Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath stressed last week that the drop witnessed in the COVID-19 infections here in Sri Lanka during the past weeks has stopped by now and all people need to follow all health guidelines all the time. He said the same for the 101th time but it seems the people turn a deaf ear to this warning. Not only ordinary people but also popular figures appear in public and violate basic health guidelines.
The most pathetic situation will arise after the festive season which arrives in late December. That means the New Year, 2022 will also get affected by this disease which can be totally kept under control with the good behaviour of the people. Schoolchildren need schooling and all the others need to lead a normal life with normal activities. But it will only be a dream with the selfish and ignorant behaviour of Sri Lankan people who belong to all ages, genders, social classes, educational levels, religions, races and political parties.
We should be a little bit selfless and knowledgeable when it comes to COVID-19. We need to let our elderly to visit hospitals safely and obtain medical treatment without filling all hospitals with COVID-19 patients in critical condition. Elderly and those who suffer from Non Communicable Diseases and chronic diseases can wait a month, few months or a year without obtaining properly monitored medical care. They can spend around one year on regular drugs and with a little bit of screening but they cannot go on like this for more than one year or one and half years. They need to visit hospitals and obtain in-house medical treatment which cannot be delayed. But what if they get COVID-19?
Getting COVID-19 in an old age will end their lives no matter whether they are fully vaccinated or not. Even the booster dose will not save all elders. This is the bitter truth now we have witnessed all over the world, especially in rich countries. This negative situation will gradually change in time with the discovery of new vaccines and medication in the near future. But we have to hang on until then. Our elderly and sick cannot die before that due to our selfishness and ignorance.
The health authorities have warned that the new A.30 variant of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which does not respond to vaccines, could enter Sri Lanka in the near future.
Higher infection levels
Recent studies have shown that this new variant can evade vaccine-induced antibodies and might spread outside the lungs extraordinarily well, with important implications for the public health response.
As per the recent reports, the new variant has been reported in several countries, and reportedly does not respond to any existing vaccine. Therefore although Sri Lanka has a high vaccination rate, if the new variant enters the country, it could lead to higher infection levels.
But it seems no one is concerned about this grave danger other than the health authorities and the Government. Even some State owned institutions ignore operational guidelines issued to them by the Health Ministry. This is the most pathetic situation that exists right here in Sri Lanka at this moment.
Air conditioned buses run here and there with air conditioning on and no one is worried about it. No authority checks these buses. Passengers demand air conditioning due to selfishness, ignorance while the bus driver and the conductor like to keep the air conditioning on because then they are comfortable and there is no need to clean the dust in the bus. No one is interested in preventing COVID-19. People can stop travelling in them paying high prices, but they never do.
This situation is very similar inside offices. In the state sector, the situation is somewhat controlled because of the Government’s circulars etc. but in the private sector and the semi-Government sector, the situation is worse. In some places, they keep the air conditioning on no matter who gets COVID-19 or when. The most serious issue is they violate the rights given to the employees through the latest health guidelines issued by the Government and the health authorities to work inside non air conditioned office environments.
The managements of some private and semi Government institutions use various tactics to keep the air conditioning on. It is not opening or letting the employees open doors and windows. Then naturally all employees need air conditioning because no one can work inside a hot non-air-conditioned office environment. The managements should make arrangements to remove the nails fitted to windows and open them. The doors with elbows in air conditioned offices need to be fixed with a system to keep them opened and otherwise they automatically close. But the bitter truth is that managements are not interested even in removing a nail.
Disinfecting or decontaminating door knobs, telephones, arm rails, tables etc. in offices is only a dream for employees. They have to clean them by themselves using whatever disinfectant brought to the office from their homes. They have to buy them spending their own money because they need to be free from COVID-19. They are scared to go home with the virus. They need to go home and be with their children and elderly in the evening.
The other pathetic situation inside offices related to having lunch. Many offices have issued a circular permitting their employees to have lunch inside their departments without using the common lunch room(s). This step has created a dangerous environment because the employees need to remove their masks to have lunch and by that time all the other employees are exposed to the virus inside tightly closed or air-conditioned office environments.
Weddings, funerals, parties, protests, etc. take place without following any health guidelines and no one questions about it. The visitors question and start an argument only when someone among them questions about the safety and the need for following health guidelines. Questioning why someone or some event/institution does not follow operational guidelines or health guidelines has become an offence.
It seems no one cares about himself / herself. There is no point in talking about caring about others. When they get COVID-19 they blame the Government or someone else but not themselves as usual. Lucky ones will live while the unlucky ones will die. That is the bitter truth.
– Daily News Sri Lanka
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