Reaping whirlwind

Saturday 14th August, 2021

We invited the Delta variant of coronavirus, and it has come. We are reaping the whirlwind, having sowed the wind. Speculation was rife yesterday that the government would impose lockdowns in response to calls from medical experts for drastic measures to curb the runaway spread of the pandemic. Instead, it opted for some travel restrictions. Why it has chosen to fight shy of closing the country may be understandable because the economy is on heart-lung machine, and cannot take any more shocks. But travel restrictions have not worked in the past.

The current wave of Covid-19 infections can be attributed to the government’s blunders such as its decision to keep the country open during the national New Year in April, and allow citizens of the countries affected by the Delta variant to arrive here even for quarantine. It also did not care to impose a quarantine curfew during the last round of lockdowns, which therefore failed to yield the desired results. However, it deserves praise for the country’s successful vaccination campaign. That it has mismanaged the pandemic control efforts does not mean others are not responsible for the unholy mess we find ourselves in. The blame for this situation should be apportioned to the public as well.

Some people see opportunities in crises. When the Easter Sunday carnage happened in 2019, the present-day leaders who were in the Opposition at the time saw an opportunity; they flogged the issue as hard as they could, and gained a lot of political mileage. They made themselves out to be saviours, and won elections by promising to protect national security. Today, on their watch, an explosive spread of Covid-19 is snuffing out many lives. Those who lost their hold on power due to the Easter Sunday attacks and are in the Opposition have seen an opportunity in the current health crisis. They are giving a running commentary on the health emergency to portray the government in a bad light, without so much as lifting a finger to help the pandemic victims. The political parties that have helped themselves to public funds have a moral responsibility to help the poor crying out for help and ensure their supporters behave responsibly.

One may recall that immediately after the 1994 regime change, which was widely expected to lead to a bloodbath with the SLFP supporters, who had undergone immense suffering at the hands of the UNP for 17 long years, unleashing violence against their political opponents, the then Prime Minister Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga swiftly converted all SLFP party offices into peace committees. Thus, she was able to rein in her supporters. Likewise, all political leaders should seriously consider turning their party offices into pandemic relief centres to look after the people who are struggling to make ends meet. They can also raise funds for essential equipment for hospitals; they have amassed enormous amounts of wealth while in power and it is time for them to part with a fraction thereof for the sake of the people who pay through the nose for maintaining them.

It’s not the time to play our national sport—the blame game. Instead, it’s the time for a concerted effort to beat the virus, which infects and kills people indiscriminately. Unless the people mend their ways and resolve to protect themselves against the virus, there will have to be costly lockdowns. Medical experts have said, according to a report we publish today, it is high time a curfew was imposed because there is a very strong probability of a deadlier variant than Delta evolving here and rendering the ongoing vaccination drive futile.

Even if the country is closed, the virus will not go away as long as people behave irresponsibly; in such an eventuality, there will be a slight drop in infections and deaths; the economy will scream; people will lose their jobs; daily-wage earners will have to starve; the government will print more money and distribute it with a generous hand, expecting votes in return at future elections, and the country’s foreign reserves will hit rock bottom. When costly lockdowns are lifted, everyone performs the hongi with the virus, which makes a comeback. Hence the need to couple lockdowns with quarantine curfews with only the vital sectors to remain open with the minimum possible number of workers.

There has been a chilling prediction that the death toll could climb to as many as 600 a day at the rate the pandemic is spreading. The only way to avert such a disastrous situation is for the public to adhere to the health regulations, and the government to ensure that they do so. If everyone resolves to do his or her bit for the country’s fight against the pandemic, and acts accordingly, perhaps there will be no need for lockdowns that entail huge socio-economic costs.