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Regional health officials overwhelmed

12 Aug 2021

BY Pamodi Waravita Health officials attached to the offices of Regional Directors of Health Services (RDHS) yesterday (12) told The Morning that the increasing number of Covid-19 patients is making it exceedingly difficult to do their duties. “Each medical officer of health (MOH) area has only a few public health inspectors (PHIs) and usually only one or two MOHs are attached to their divisions. With the numbers increasing, they cannot do proper contact tracing. We also have to take part in all duties, including vaccination, contact tracing, and monitoring activities,” said one official. According to another official, data collection can collapse as a result of too many duties assigned to each official. Meanwhile, The Morning learnt on Wednesday (11) that grama niladhari (GN) officers in the Gampaha District have been instructed to engage in covering certain Covid-19-related duties that are generally carried out by PHIs of the area, as PHIs are currently overwhelmed by the increase in the Covid-19 caseload. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) parliamentarian M.W.D. Sahan Pradeep Withana, speaking to The Morning, said that this decision was taken as PHIs have far too much work these days. Ministry of Health Covid-19 Co-ordinator Dr. Anver Hamdani told The Morning yesterday that the responsibility of pandemic control is with three groups: The Government, the public, and the media. “I urge people who test positive to contact their respective MOH officers and co-ordinate accordingly,” said Dr. Hamdani. Discrepancies in official Covid-19 statistics were also reported from a number of areas in the country this week. Eastern Provincial Director of Health Services (PDHS) Dr. A.R.M. Thowfeek said on Wednesday that the Eastern Province reported 837 Covid-19 infections on 10 August (342 patients from the Batticaloa District, 332 from the Ampara District and Kalmunai, and 163 from the Trincomalee District). It was further revealed that from the 12,555 Covid-19 patients that were identified in the Gampaha District between 1 August and 9 August, 7,003 were not receiving hospital treatment or home-based care.


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