‘Country grateful to security forces, but now govt needs to heed warnings of medical experts’

Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella yesterday said that the country should be grateful to the security forces for their dedication to reopening the country, but the rulers should also pay heed to the warnings of medical experts.

Speaking to journalists in Colombo yesterday, the chief opposition whip said that he pleaded with the government to impose travel restrictions in Kandy District and the adjacent districts to prevent the Delta variant from entering those areas. “I have spoken with some doctors in the district. Their opinion was that travel restrictions will help ward off the Delta variant in those areas. It seems that the government does not want to heed medical advice and impose travel restrictions. It should at least expedite the process of giving the second dose of the anti-Covid vaccine to the people. A majority of the people in the upcountry areas have received their first dose by this time. Some have fears that they would not get the second dose while others think by the time they get the second dose they would have become victims of the virus. It is natural for people to harbour such fears because the government has its focus only on the Western Province to complete both doses of the vaccine. There are two opinions today. The doctors are calling for lockdowns while the military is calling for keeping the country open. We must admit that it was due to the yeoman services rendered by the security forces personnel that we could reopen the country and we as a nation should be thankful to them for their dedicated service at this hour of need. But the fact remains that many other countries had re-opened only after giving both doses of the vaccine to their people. The government should learn from those examples.”

Kiriella said that the government should go for a lockdown as per the doctors’ advice and take action to reopen it after completing the process of administering the second dose of the vaccine.