GMOA asks govt. not to allow foreigners here for quarantine purposes

Allowing foreigners to arrive in the country for quarantine purposes might have disastrous consequences and expert advice should have been sought before making such a decision, Secretary of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Dr. Senal Fernando said.

Dr. Fernando said that his association had held a discussion with the Director General – Health Services on Thursday and suggested that PCR testing and random testing be increased to identify new cases and to understand the real situation in the country.

“The government must not hesitate to enforce travel restrictions based on trends and when such decisions are taken a mechanism must be devised to communicate with regional medical officers.”

The GMOA official said that the government should also re-evaluate the policy of sending all COVID-19 cases to treatment centres. Currently, asymptomatic cases and those who showed symptoms are all sent to treatment centres and re-evaluating the process might help ensure that health sector capacity is not exceeded.

“We must also update the discharge criteria and identify short and long term solutions to increase ward beds and ICU beds at treatment centres. The Ministry of Health must also ensure that frontline health workers have enough PPE kits and enough oxygen stocks are available. Then there are hospitals that are short staffed and the Ministry must appoint medical students who have completed their internship period and are awaiting appointments.”.

The government must also communicate the gravity of the situation to the general public and take steps to enforce quarantine laws strictly, Dr. Fernando said. (RK)