The red alert sounded by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) that hospital capacity was fast running out to accommodate Covid-19 patients no doubt would be viewed with grave concern by the authorities especially in view of the escalating number of positive cases.
According to GMOA General Committee member Dr. Prasad Colambage the hospitals are fast reaching the spillover level. To avoid this he proposes that the authorities come up with a tangible plan while requesting the public to cooperate with them, the Police, Armed Forces and the health sector to control the situation.
They requested the Government to introduce a procedure and enlighten the people who are infected with the virus where they experience mild symptoms which can be treated at home. The Doctors’ Union member also expressed fears that the deaths as a result of the virus in the Western Province could rise to 600 in May alone going by the trends.
With all signs that the vaccine rollout could be further pushed back due to depletion of stocks and their arrival in the country only in fits and starts, there is the danger of those who already received the first jab going without the second dosage and outliving the gestation period of 12 weeks, aggravating the problem. Therefore the authorities will do well to prepare for the worst and if push comes to shove extend the lockdown that begins today. In the meantime the Government should act fast in laying its hands on every available space to accommodate the anticipated influx. The UNP has come up with the suggestion that the Government uses all unoccupied State buildings as satellite hospitals. “The Government should follow other countries and convert unused State buildings into hospitals,” former UNP MP Ashu Marasinghe told a media conference. The proposal should be viewed in favourable light by the Government considering the dire emergency at hand.
There are several idle Government buildings in Colombo and elsewhere in the suburbs and the outstations that could well serve the purpose. The Armed Forces could be enlisted to work fast in converting these buildings into hospitals as they have shown their competence in this regard by erecting makeshift hospitals in next to no time during the past few weeks at short notice to accommodate patients.
Equally important is the strengthening of the medical staff to match the new capacity levels. As it is doctors, nurses and medical staff are having their hands full. It is of vital importance that they are not overworked and overwhelmed by the expected stampede of new cases. In the meantime all efforts should be focused on acquiring vaccines from all possible sources, not relying only on a selected few. There was talk about a large stockpile of vaccines lying unused in Indonesia and certain African countries and that the authorities were hopeful of receiving a favourable response to their requests. Appeals have also gone out to the US for supplies to make up for the current shortfall of the 600,000 Covishield vaccines for the second jab. There is no gainsaying that all avenues should be pursued with extra vigour given the dire situation we are in.
The goal should be to acquire herd immunity and this aim should be foremost in the minds of the powers that be. Meanwhile, the Government has reached out to Lankans living abroad for financial and other assistance to fight the Coronavirus pandemic. This is taking into account the enormity of the task at hand and limitations on the ground, according to Foreign Ministry sources.
Already the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington is in the process of coordinating such voluntary donations of relief items for the treatment of Covid-19 infected persons in hospitals and to augment facilities around the country, it is reported. According to the Ministry of Health it has communicated its urgent need for ventilators, oxygen concentrators, high flow oxygen units, multi-parameter monitors and telemedicine platforms among other equipment.
Of course Lankans living in the US are themselves under threat by the raging pandemic over there. However it is certain that our cries for help in this dark hour would not go unheeded. This is going by the response from expatriate Lankans during the tsunami catastrophe. Like during that tragedy the country’s economy suffered a tremendous blow by the pandemic. State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal revealed that the Government has so far spent Rs. 138 billion on Covid relief measures. He told Parliament on Tuesday that the Government had spent Rs. 56.5 billion for the payment of Rs. 5,000 to the people last year and Rs. 29 billion for quarantine facilities in 2020.
This of course was at a time when the virus was largely contained in the country. One shudders to think of the financial implications in the present context when the pandemic has acquired a runaway streak. What is needed therefore is a combined effort to come out of this quagmire by all contributing their mite forgetting political and parochial differences. After all, there has to be a country left for political and other battles to be fought.
