COVID-19 in Sri Lanka was controlled successfully in the past with the joint efforts of the people, health authorities, armed forces and all. It was not done by one party or a group of individuals. Everything was done under the leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is the same with present. The same leadership and the same main players are there. But it seems this time it is a bit difficult and takes some more time than the past. What made the difference? The people made the difference this time. 
We all see how the majority of the Sri Lankans wear helmets. They wear it in order to protect themselves from the traffic police officers and not from any fatal head injuries that can occur due to accidents. Nowadays some people, especially men wear masks just like they wear helmets just to protect themselves from the police and not from COVID-19. If a person has an iota of brain, he/she will not do it.
But the pathetic situation is not wearing a helmet will only kill one person but not wearing a face mask will kill many aged, sick etc. Wearing a face mask will protect a person from COVID-19 and it will save the precious lives of many aged parents, sick and Rs. 10,000. Not wearing a mask will put the life of the individual at risk as well as the lives of all the other people. It will cost Rs. 10,000 and may be provide an opportunity to taste the rice served in prison. Not like in March, nowadays masks are everywhere for a very low price. Wearing a mask is not difficult if a person is not running or doing any other heavy physical exercise.
The other issue is with the three-wheelers. The three wheel drivers are doing everything just to protect themselves from the police and not from the COVID-19. They always wear the mask to cover their chin and not the nose and mouth. They use a piece of polythene to cover the space between the driver and the passenger. But their only intention is to protect themselves from the police and not protecting themselves or their customers (passengers) from COVID-19. They removed this small thin torn piece of polythene just few weeks after the police stopped checking it and now they have placed it again just as it was in the past, a tiny torn piece of polythene and not an adequate piece of good polythene that does not have holes on it. This shows the attitude of one social class of Sri Lankans towards COVID-19.
Health guidelines
There is another pathetic situation. Some young men and women try to show how brave they are by not following health guidelines issued to the people by the health authorities in order to protect the people from COVID-19. This is a common sight at offices and some institutions. They laugh at other colleagues who wear face masks and keep the minimum social distance of one metre. Some come close without a mask. Some heads of the departments keep a blind eye to such incidents. Sometimes we cannot imagine this idiotic behaviour of individuals who are educated and work at private or state institutions.
Some are coming close to others and touch them because they think that they do not have COVID-19 and believe that there is no way of contracting it. Sometimes they come, touch, hug and chat with elderly and sick. Some such individuals do it because they think that they have to do it to please others and otherwise the others will think that not doing such things means being proud. Sometimes the individuals who undergo home quarantine do this putting the lives of others at risk.
There is another very pathetic and dangerous behaviour of the public which put the entire country in danger. That is not following the home quarantine period of 14 days properly and mixing with the society before ending their home quarantine period thinking that they are not COVID-19 positive and no way of becoming COVID-19 positive after the initial 14 day quarantine period.
It is impossible for the police and health officials such as Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) to stand in front of the house for 24 X 7 which are under quarantine. If anyone is expecting that, he/she is simply has a mental disorder. There is no way of guarding all quarantined homes in the country for 24 hours. It is the responsibility of the people to follow health guidelines and all the instructions given to them by the health authorities and law enforcement officers. But some people who are under home quarantine go on shopping putting the lives of all the other people at risk.
Some people who attended certain weddings, travelled by certain busses on specific days at certain times exactly know that they are at risk. But they never come out or at least do not refrain from mixing up with other people. They freely go here and there infecting all the others. At the end they point the finger at patriotic private television channels which show how health authorities arrive and take them to the hospitals. After totally ignoring their social responsibility, they point the finger at some private television channels for showing them to the entire county. If they follow the relevant health guidelines, they never become COVID-19 positive. Then they had the chance to protect other people by being socially responsible and inform the health authorities as soon as possible. They ignore everything and wait until health authorities receive information from other sources, arrive at their door steps and take them to hospitals. By this time they have become ‘news’.
A very funny, hilarious demand made by some people (especially educated people) nowadays. It is demanding a PCR Tests just after they think that they got themselves exposed to a suspected COVID-19 positive individual. They make this funny demand due to lack of scientific knowledge on the behaviour of the COVID-19 virus. They do not know that it takes some days to indicate the virus in them. Without knowing that they waste their money on PCR Tests (private sector) and force the state to waste resources (PCR Test kits) which are now essential and hard to obtain due to the high demand exist all over the world. The funniest part is they go shopping after giving specimen to perform the PCR Test. This trend was commenced with the rich businessman who died from COVID-19 during the early stages of the COVID-19 period in Sri Lanka after distributing the virus everywhere including to some private hospitals. These types of shortcomings should be rectified by the Sri Lankan people in order to win the COVID-19 battle for the second time. 
We have to do a few simple things. The first thing is maintaining mindfulness all the time. Even one second is enough for Corona to come into your body. One touch is enough to destroy all your efforts. Therefore maintaining mindfulness is very important. In other words it is being conscious all the time and not forgetting about COVID-19 even for a second in your day-to-day life.
Public transport
Then you have to maintain at least one metre distance from all the others all the time no matter where you go and what you do. It is good if you can do this even when you are at home because the family members travel to their workplaces etc. and move with outsiders. It is not that difficult to do it and the only time we face hardships is while travelling by public transport. Even when travelling by public transport we can try to keep one metre distance and be ready all the time to face the impossible by wearing a standard three layer mask.
We have to wear a standard three layer mask whenever we go out no matter where we go or when we go. We have to wear it and avoid touching or adjusting it once we wear it. We should touch it only to remove it after washing our hands for 30 seconds with soap and water. We should not touch the mask before this. Not touching the mask keeps it fit. The mask should cover both nose and mouth and not only the mouth.
Then we have to wash our hands for 30 seconds with soap and water. There is no point if you touch anywhere in your face (not only mouth, eyes and nose) before washing your hands. You should not touch anything else with your hands between the time you wash your hands and touching your face. This is the most important part of hand washing and touching the face. There are times when you cannot find soap and water. What you can do is using a standard hand sanitizer available at any supermarket or other shops. Once you buy a hand sanitizer, you can use it for some time because you need it only when soap and water are not available.
