Coronavirus spread slows down but lowering the guard could lead to a resurgence

by SURESH PERERA

The transmission of the coronavirus within the community has witnessed a marginal drop largely due to the quarantine curfew enforced, health officials said, while warning that failure to adhere to preventive guidelines when travel restrictions are relaxed could see a resurgence of the pandemic.

The spread of the virus has slowed down in terms of numbers testing positive, Dr. Jayaruwan Bandara, Deputy Director of the Medical Research Institute (MRI) acknowledged, but cautioned that the drop didn’t mean the worst was now over.

Covid-19 positive cases topped 400 following the eruption of the Peliyagoda fish market cluster. However, by Thursday (November 5) patients testing positive for the deadly virus dipped to 383.

The Epidemiology Unit said the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Sri Lanka stood at 12,570, with 6,623 recoveries and 5,748 patients still under medical care as at November 5. The coronavirus death count has climbed to 29 with five more deaths reported.

Most of the patients testing positive are close contacts of the Peliyagoda cluster.

Asked whether the overall pandemic situation has improved with less positive cases reported, Dr. Bandara said that statistics reflect a slow down, but a lot more needs to be done in terms of effectively tackling the threat.

“Without public cooperation, we will be back to square one”, he stressed.

Meanwhile, head of Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists, Ravi Kumadesh, charged that under a new mechanism adopted by the Health Ministry, PCR tests are now being done only as a “last resort”.

The number of PCR tests have been drastically reduced, he claimed, while adding that even positive cases are not immediately admitted to hospital. They are instead placed under quarantine in centres.

The whole truth about the fresh outbreak of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka has been swept under the carpet, Kumadesh alleged. “They are blaming the people for not adhering to preventive guidelines, but not telling them the factual ground situation”.