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Inter-provincial travel restricted despite lockdown lifting

30 Sep 2021

 
  • Health Minister says other ‘conditions’ to be notified by DGHS
  • SLMA urges month-long restrictions on inter-provincial travel, weddings/public events, religious places
  • Proposes halt of indoor dining in restaurants/bars
  BY Pamodi Waravita The islandwide quarantine curfew or lockdown, which has been in place for six weeks, will be lifted at 4 a.m. tomorrow (1 October), but the prevailing inter-provincial travel restrictions will continue beyond tomorrow for a period of two weeks. Following the announcement of the plan to lift the lockdown, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told The Morning yesterday that while the inter-provincial travel restrictions will continue beyond tomorrow for two weeks, all other restrictions to be declared would be reviewed on a weekly basis from tomorrow onwards. Earlier in the day, National Operations Centre for the Prevention of the Covid-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Head and Army Commander Gen. Shavendra Silva announced that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had instructed to lift the islandwide quarantine curfew, which has been in place for six weeks, at 4 a.m. tomorrow. He stated that the restrictions and new health guidelines to be implemented following the lifting of the curfew would be notified later. Rambukwella Tweeted a short while later that certain conditions will be imposed following the lifting of the lockdown to curtail movement and curb the spread of Covid-19, which will be notified by Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena in due course. Due to the rapid spread of Covid-19 and increase in the number of Covid-19 deaths in the country, President Rajapaksa declared a quarantine curfew lockdown status on 20 August, which has subsequently been extended on multiple occasions, with the latest extension being till 4 a.m. tomorrow. The Government announced earlier this week that a final decision on whether it would be further extended would be taken during the course of this week, following further discussions. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), prior to the announcement, warned that the unrestricted reopening of the country this week will lead to a resumption of the transmission of the virulent Delta (B.1.617.2) Covid-19 variant of Indian origin. “Although it is reassuring that the number of patients requiring critical care and oxygen and the number of Covid-19-related deaths are decreasing, it is evident that the transmission of Covid-19, and in particular, the virulent Delta variant, is still continuing at a very high rate. Even with the currently limited testing rates, the reported daily number of Covid-19 cases being over 1,000 and the deaths being around 100 daily, are still very high numbers. Because the prevailing case numbers are high, it is likely to lead to a more rapid rise in cases than earlier, despite the high vaccine coverage,” said the SLMA in a press release yesterday. The SLMA further noted that although the vaccination programme is currently achieving a high coverage of the population, the immunity that is given by vaccines is mostly limited to the prevention of severe disease and death, as it is not as effective in reducing the transmission of the virus. “Resumption of transmission could lead to another wave of the pandemic which will have extremely negative consequences on the health of the people, and even on the economy because it will call for further and longer periods of lockdowns and will yet again be disruptive to the health system. Therefore, we propose a restrained, phased out, and well-monitored relaxation of the current restrictions along the following lines from tomorrow onwards, the date proposed for lifting the lockdown.” At a media briefing held yesterday to highlight the recommendations on reopening the country that the SLMA has made to the Government, SLMA Vice President Dr. Manilka Sumanatilleke cautioned that Sri Lanka has “only just stepped onto the path of victory, and therefore must remain vigilant and patient as we have not won yet”. Therefore, the SLMA proposed that essential services, industrial work, agricultural work, work in outdoor sites, individual sports-related activities, and home delivery services be allowed to function as normal. However, the organisation has stressed that the current inter-provincial travel restrictions, restrictions on weddings, and other public events, and the closure of religious places to the public should be continued for the next four weeks. The SLMA has added that indoor dining in restaurants and bars be disallowed and that spas and salons remain closed. Commenting on commercial outlets and shops, the organisation has recommended that they only accommodate customers to 25% of their capacity. Furthermore, it has recommended that offices function with only 50% of their staff, on a rotation basis, while schools with over 200 students also commence using a similar system. However, it has said that schools with less than 200 students should be opened under strict health guidelines. It has further stressed that only seated passengers be allowed on public transport. The SLMA has also proposed that the current effective vaccination programme be continued until 100% of the population over the age of 18 years is fully inoculated, and has added that a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Oxford AstraZeneca (AZ) Covid-19 vaccines be given to all fully vaccinated people over the age of 60 years. “This most recent wave, from 4 July, has led to 50% of all recorded cases, and about 9,000 of the 12,786 deaths that Sri Lanka has experienced due to the pandemic. However, last week, there was a 50% decrease in reported cases and a 32% decrease in deaths from the previous week,” said SLMA President Dr. Padma Gunaratne yesterday.  


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