Former UNP Parliamentarian Saman Ratnapriya said that the Government should do more to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus which has led to an increase in the number of cases and deaths being reported in the country.
He added that the Government’s response to contain and the measures taken so far display the incoherent policies and plans.
He was speaking at a media briefing at the party headquarters in Sirikotha yesterday.
“At present, there are 15,024 COVID-19 patients in the country and 44 deaths have been reported. The number of patients being reported daily is on the incline, however if more PCR tests were to be done, more COVID-19 cases would be detected,” he said. “It is clear that the government has not been able to contain the spread of the virus.”
Commenting on the issue of burial of COVID-19 deaths, he added that the Government had insisted on cremation in order to appease the hardliners who supported the Government during the election. He further said that the Government must impose a lockdown in order to ensure that the virus does not spiral out of hand.
“So many countries have lockdowns during the second wave. The spread of the virus cannot be contained otherwise, without restricting the movement of individuals in areas where there is a high density of COVID-19 cases.”
He also said that people are going through untold hardships where they do not have any means to support their own families.
“Neither do people have medicines or food,” he said. “When the Government contained the first wave of the virus, the credit was to the Government but in this instance when the second wave cannot be suppressed, the general public are being blamed.”
