If not for countrywide lockdown, deaths would have doubled, says SLMA President

By RathindraKuruwita

The number of deaths due to the pandemic would have doubled if the current lockdown had not been imposed, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), Dr. Padma Gunaratne said yesterday.

Dr. Gunaratne said: “We will start seeing the impact of the lockdown because most of those who tested positive during the last two weeks had most probably contracted the virus before the commencement of the lockdown.”

The SLMA President said that they needed more data to determine by how much the situation had improved and whether the travel restrictions should be removed.

Dr. Gunaratne said that the benefits of the travel restrictions would depend on how well it was enforced. If the number of people who came to Colombo had increased, the chance of the disease spreading would also have increased.

“The government didn’t impose a countrywide travel restriction at once. It is being asked whether there are any travel restrictions in force at all. One can remember the traffic situation on our road during the 2020 lockdown. The roads were deserted unlike at present.”