The pandemic has proven how disastrous the western open economic system is without checks and balances. This is the perfect time to invest in a local production of food, transport, storage, and retail. The government must get back to the business of food.
In order to
do so, the government must have large and distributed storage facilities,
transport systems, warehouses and outlets (or agreements with commercial
outlets). It is a substantial investment but it pays off quickly.
The final consumer price must be based on the world market prices of those commodities with a local discount. Retail, storage and transport legs of the chain can be allocated a set cost per tonne. Once they are taken out, the price to be paid to the farmer can be calculated.
Food
importation must be only done by the government.
The price of intermediaries must be based on the set price per tonne and it should not be increased other than for inflation. If any government-owned intermediary runs at a loss, their efficiency must be increased profitably by taking whatever action needed.
This method will earn the government billions of rupees every year in profit without having to tax people. Singapore follows a similar model in many industries (agriculture is not a major industry in Singapore) that is working very successfully. The western dogma that governments cannot do business is proven wrong. What is required is a commercially viable business model for the government.
AGENT ORANGE is the
best known highly toxic herbicide and defoliant chemical, developed by Americans and used by the
U.S. military as part of its chemical warfare program in Vietnam and
neighboring countries. Between 1962
and 1971, during the Vietnam war, the United States military sprayed nearly 20
million gallons of various toxic chemicals – the “rainbow
herbicides” and
defoliants – in Vietnam, eastern Laos, and parts of Cambodia as part of its
chemical warfare known as Operation Ranch Hand”, reaching its peak from 1967
to 1969. During the Vietnam war, Agent Orange was used extensively in
Laos and Cambodia because forests on the
border with Vietnam were used by the Viet Cong. In 1961, it was John
F. Kennedy, the US President, who authorized the criminal Operation Ranch
Hand”, involving the widespread aerial spraying of Agent Orange or the toxic
herbicide and defoliant chemical, in South Vietnam. USA justified its use by
citing that Britain had already used herbicides and defoliants in Malaya during
the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s and thereby has established a precedent for chemical
warfare in Asia. As the British did
in Malaya, the goal of the U.S. was to defoliate rural/forested land, depriving
Vietnamese rebels of food and concealment and clearing sensitive areas such as
around base perimeters. The program was also a part of a general policy
of forced
draft urbanization, which aimed to destroy the ability
of peasants to support themselves in the countryside, forcing them to flee to
the U.S.-dominated cities, depriving the rebels referred to by them as
guerrillas, of their rural support base
JOINT
INITIATIVE BY USA AND BRITAIN
Several
herbicides were developed as part of efforts by the United States and Great
Britain to create herbicidal weapons for use during World War II.
In 1943, the United States Department of the Army contracted
botanist and bioethicist Arthur
Galston, to find chemical means to
destroy enemy crops in order to disrupt their food supply. (Galston is the
American scientist who later discovered the herbicide and defoliant chemical named Agent
Orange used extensively in Vietnam and
neighboring countries, to destroy forests and crops in view of disrupting food
supply). U.S. began a full-scale production and aerial application of these
herbicides against Japan in 1946 during Operation
Downfall. In the years after the war,
the U.S. tested 1,100 compounds, and field trials of the more promising ones
were done at British stations in India and Australia, as well as at the U.S.’s
testing ground in Florida, in order to establish their effects in tropical
conditions. Between 1950 and 1952, trials were conducted in Tanganyika,
at Kikore and
Stunyansa, to test arboricides and defoliants under tropical conditions. During
1952–53, USA supervised the aerial spraying of these defoliants in the
eradication of tsetse fly
in Kenya.
MALAYSIAN
EMERGENCY
The British gained control of
what is now Malaysia in 1795 and formally made Malaysia a British colony in
1867. In 1909, the British merged all Malaya territory under their control to
form Malaya. Using divide and rule tactics, the British encouraged
rivalries between Malaysia’s different ethnic groups and between the sultans.
During the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960), Britain was the first nation to
employ the use of herbicides and defoliants to destroy bushes, trees, and
vegetation to deprive insurgents of concealment and target food crops as part
of a starvation campaign in the early 1950s. Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought in the
Federation of Malaya from 1948 until 1960. The conflict was between
Commonwealth armed forces led by Britain
and pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army, the
military wing of the Malayan Communist Party. The Malayan Emergency was a counter-insurgency
operation undertaken by the Western powers,
where the British and Commonwealth forces defeated a revolt in Malaya. A
detailed account of how the British experimented with the spraying of
herbicides in Malaya was written by two scientists, E.K. Woodford of Agricultural Research Council‘s
Unit of Experimental Agronomy and H.G.H. Kearns of the University
of Bristol. After the
Malayan conflict ended in 1960, the U.S. considered the British practice of
using defoliants as a tactic of
warfare.
DEFOLIATE FOREST-LAND
AND DESTROY CROPLAND
Agent Orange was
usually sprayed from helicopters or from low-flying aircraft, fitted with
sprayers. Spray runs were also conducted from trucks, boats, and backpack
sprayers. U.S. Air Force records show that 6,542 spraying missions took
place over the course of Operation Ranch Hand. By 1971, 12 percent of the
total area of South Vietnam had been sprayed with defoliating
chemicals. In South Vietnam alone, an estimated 39,000 square miles or
10 million ha of agricultural land was ultimately destroyed. It destroyed
20,000 square kilometres of upland and mangrove forests and thousands of square
kilometres of crops. Overall, more than 20% of South Vietnam’s forests
were sprayed at least once over the nine-year period.
The U.S. military
began targeting food crops in October 1962, primarily using what was
referred to as Agent Blue”. US Military
personnel were told they were destroying crops because they were going to be
used to feed guerrillas. American policy during the Vietnam War was to destroy
civilian crops and a greater part of the rural economy, because Americans
believed that the Vietnamese rebels -the Vietcong obtained most of their food
from the neutral rural population. Crops were deliberately sprayed with
Agent Orange; areas were bulldozed clear of vegetation. It was discovered later
that the food that was destroyed was not produced for guerrillas but for the
local civilian population. In Quang Ngai
province, 85% of the crop lands were destroyed in 1970 and this contributed to
widespread famine, leaving hundreds of thousands of people malnourished or
starving. In addition, the rural
population was subjected to bombing and artillery fire. This led to excessive
migration of people to urban areas and estimated 1.5 million people living a
miserable life in the highly overcrowded Saigon slums. Urban population in
South Vietnam nearly tripled during this time, growing from 2.8 million people
in 1958 to 8 million by 1971.
ENVIRONMENTAL-DAMAGE Agent Orange caused enormous environmental
damage in Vietnam. Over 3.1 million hectares or 18% of the total forested area
of Vietnam was sprayed and defoliated. Official
US military records refer to the destruction of 20% of the forests of South
Vietnam and 20-36% of the lush mangrove forests of Vietnam. Forests that were
sprayed multiple times show the greatest ecological damage and in most places,
there has been total annihilation of vegetal cover and loss of animal life. Destruction
and removal of forested areas severely destroyed
all lifeforms big and small and totally disrupted the ecological equilibrium in
Vietnam. Defoliants eroded tree cover and seedling forest stock, making reforestation difficult in numerous areas. The diversity of land
and water-based animal species, bird-life and
microorganisms, was sharply
reduced owing to defoliant sprays of forests.
The persistent nature of dioxins, erosion caused by loss of tree cover, and
loss of seedling forest stock meant that reforestation out of the question in
many areas. Defoliated forest areas were quickly invaded by aggressive
pioneer species making forest regeneration difficult. Dioxins from Agent Orange
have persisted in the environment
settling in the soil and sediment and entering the food chain through
water and through animals and fish which feed in the contaminated areas. The
movement of dioxins through the food web has
resulted in bioconcentration and biomagnification. The
areas most heavily contaminated with dioxins were former U.S. air bases.
LOSS OF LIFE AND SEVERE
HEALTH EFFECTS
In addition to its enormously damaging ecological/environmental
effects, about 400,000 Vietnamese were killed by the toxic effects of Agent Orange.
Up to four million people in Vietnam were
directly exposed to the Agent Orange. The most illustrative effects of Agent
Orange upon the Vietnamese people are the health effects. It has caused major
health problems for several millions of people including children. As many as 3
million people suffered illnesses because of Agent Orange. Up to 1 million
people are disabled or have health problems as a result of Agent Orange
contamination. Millions of Vietnamese are
living with the effects of Agent Orange and more are being born with defects
linked to the herbicide. In 2019, infants were still being born with
birth defects linked to a toxic herbicide used by the US military to weed out
Viet Cong fighters. Many living in poor villages
do not receive the health care and rehabilitation they need, simply because
they cannot afford to seek treatment. Environmentalists say the country could see 6
to 12 more generations of victims. Exposure
to Agent Orange is associated with many diseases – diabetes,
Parkinson’s disease, and several forms of cancer.
Rigorous studies have been
conducted to measure the levels of dioxin still present in the blood samples of
the citizens of both North and South Vietnam. These studies indicate Vietnamese
citizens have had severe exposure to
breadth and scope of the target. The Red
Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people
are disabled or have health problems due to contaminated Agent Orange. According
to a study by Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan, children in the areas where Agent Orange
was used have been affected and have multiple health problems, including cleft
palate, mental disabilities, hernias, and extra fingers and toes. In the 1970s, high levels of dioxin were found in the breast milk of South Vietnamese women, and in the blood of U.S. military
personnel who had served in Vietnam. The most affected zones are the
mountainous area along Truong
Son (Long Mountains) and the border between
Vietnam and Cambodia. The affected residents are living in substandard
conditions with many genetic diseases.
The U.S. government has
documented higher cases of leukemia, Hodgkin’s
lymphoma, and various kinds of cancer among USA
Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. An epidemiological study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that there was an impact of birth defects of the children
of veterans as a result of Agent Orange. Twenty-eight of the former U.S.
military bases in Vietnam where the herbicides were stored and loaded onto
airplanes may still have high levels of dioxins in the soil, posing a health
threat to the surrounding communities. The soil and sediment on the bases have
extremely high levels of dioxin requiring remediation. The contaminated soil
and sediment continue to affect the citizens of Vietnam, poisoning their food
chain and causing illnesses, serious skin diseases and a variety of cancers in
the lungs, larynx, and prostate. In 2008, Australian researcher Jean Williams
claimed that cancer rates in Innisfail,
Queensland, were 10 times higher than the state average
because of secret testing of Agent Orange by the Australian military scientists
during the Vietnam War.
LAWSUITS AGAINST USA
The United Nations being a
paw in the hands of the USA and the Western world, played its usual
hypocritical role by passing Resolution 31/72, which is not a complete ban on
the use of herbicides and defoliants in warfare. In 2002, Vietnam and the
U.S. held a joint conference on Human Health and Environmental Impacts of Agent
Orange. These negotiations broke down in 2005, when neither side could
agree on the research protocol and the research project was canceled.
However, the use of Agent
Orange in Vietnam resulted in massive legal consequences with lawsuits filed
against the USA. Since 1978, several lawsuits have been filed
against USA companies which produced Agent Orange, among them Dow
Chemical, Monsanto, and Diamond
Shamrock. The chemical companies involved denied
that there was a link between Agent Orange and the veterans’ medical problems.
However, in 1984, some chemical companies settled the class-action suit out of
court agreeing to pay $180 million as compensation if the veterans dropped all
claims against them. Many veterans who were victims of Agent Orange
exposure were outraged the case had been settled instead of going to court and
felt they had been betrayed by the lawyers.
In
2004, a victim’s
rights group, the Vietnam
Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA), filed a lawsuit in
the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn,
against several U.S. companies for liability in causing personal injury, by
developing, and producing the chemical, and claimed that the use of Agent
Orange violated the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare,
1925 Geneva Protocol,
and the 1949 Geneva
Conventions. Dow Chemical and
Monsanto were the two largest producers of Agent Orange for the U.S. military
and were named in the suit, along with the dozens of other companies (Diamond
Shamrock, Uniroyal, Thompson Chemicals, Hercules, etc.). On March 10, 2005,
Judge Jack B. Weinstein of
the Eastern District – who had presided over the 1984 U.S. veterans class-action
lawsuit – dismissed the lawsuit, ruling there was no legal basis for the
plaintiffs’ claims. He concluded Agent Orange was not considered a poison
under international law at
the time of its use by the U.S.; the U.S. was not prohibited from using it as a
herbicide; and the companies which produced the substance were not liable for
the method of its use by the government.
It was argued that “if the Americans were guilty of war crimes for using
Agent Orange in Vietnam, then the British would be also guilty of war crimes as
well since they were the first nation to deploy the use of herbicides and
defoliants in warfare and used them on a large scale throughout the Malayan
Emergency. Not only was there no outcry by other states in response to
Britain’s use, but the U.S. viewed it as establishing a precedent for the use
of herbicides and defoliants in jungle
warfare.
HELP FOR THOSE AFFECTED IN VIETNAM
To
assist those who have been affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, the Vietnamese have
established “peace villages”, which each host between 50 and 100
victims, giving them medical and psychological help. As of 2006, there were 11
such villages, thus granting some social protection to fewer than a thousand
victims. U.S. veterans of the war in Vietnam and individuals who are aware and
sympathetic to the impacts of Agent Orange have supported these programs in
Vietnam. An international group of veterans from the U.S. and its allies during
the Vietnam War working with their former enemy—veterans from the Vietnam
Veterans Association—established the Vietnam Friendship Village outside
of Hanoi.
The center provides medical care, rehabilitation and vocational training for
children and veterans from Vietnam who have been affected by Agent Orange. In
1998, The Vietnam Red Cross established
the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Fund to provide direct assistance to families
throughout Vietnam that have been affected.
Slated for human trials, EIDD-2801 could become the first pill for COVID-19
An oral medicine was able to hinder the coronavirus behind COVID-19 as it attempted to replicate itself in human lung cells in test tubes, scientists reported Monday. It also hampered closely related coronaviruses from reproducing in mice for several days and improved their lung functions.*
The drug, called EIDD-2801, interferes with a key mechanism that allows the SARS-CoV-2 virus to reproduce in high numbers and cause infections, the researchers explained in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Human trials have not yet been done, but if the effect is similar in people, the drug would be the first pill available to help with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in more than 1.3 million cases and about 76,400 deaths worldwide. An oral medication would be a boon, because it would be easier to give to more people than an intravenous injection.
The study was done by a team at Emory University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. A company that has licensed the drug, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, has just been granted permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin 10 patient trials of the antiviral pill in the next few months.
The same university collaboration had already found that Gilead Sciences’ experimental medicine remdesivir was effective in shutting down replication of the coronaviruses that caused the original SARS and MERS epidemics. Remdesivir has received attention because it entered clinical trials against SARS-CoV-2 in March, and the first results may come by late April. The findings announced yesterday indicate that EIDD-2801 was possibly even more successful in disrupting coronavirus replication than the Gilead drug. On March 20 the researchers investigating EIDD-2801, co-led by Tim Sheahan of Chapel Hill, posted the results of their animal studies on the preprint server bioRxiv while submitting them for peer review. Given the current COVID-19 crisis, it was important to share,” says George Painter, a professor of chemistry and executive director of the Emory Institute for Drug Development, which first produced the drug.
Back in 2018 Painter and the labs he leads identified EIDD-2801’s activity during a search for a universal influenza medicine. Last October, before the pandemic hit, the Emory program got $15.9 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to perform human tests of the drug against the flu virus that was likely to be circulating later in the year. When SARS-CoV-2 emerged, Painter’s group immediately shifted focus.
EIDD-2801 inhibits the coronavirus’s self-copying operations in a manner that is different from remdesivir. While remdesivir brings that replication process to a full stop, EIDD-2801 introduces mutations—mistakes—into the virus’s RNA as it makes copies so that the viral RNA becomes so damaged that it cannot infect cells. Another feature of the drug is that it is able to work against a host of other RNA viruses. Thus, it could serve as a multipurpose antiviral, much in the way some antibiotics can work against a wide variety of bacteria. In several preclinical studies, researchers from multiple labs have shown that EIDD-2801 was effective against several strains of influenza, as well as the viruses for respiratory syncytial virus and the viruses for chikungunya, Venezuelan equine encephalitis and Eastern equine encephalitis—all microbes that intermittently pop up in different parts of the world and produce widespread sickness in their wake.
The compound may be initially beneficial as a prophylaxis [that] health care workers can take to prevent an infection,” says Wayne Holman, co-founder of Miami-based Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, which has licensed the drug from Emory’s nonprofit biotech company Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE). Another potential use of EIDD-2801 might be to protect uninfected nursing home residents and workers if an outbreak occurs inside a facility. Holman says the wider goal is to have an oral pill that can be taken twice a day by patients at home early in the course of the disease to prevent it from progressing to hospitalization, mechanical ventilation or death.
In addition to planning clinical trials in the U.S., Ridgeback has also asked U.K. authorities to start tests there as well. We’ve done three to four years of development work in just the past three to four weeks in response to the new pandemic,” Holman says.
On
5th April 2020, a group of 163 civil society activists & 17
organizations placed their names on a letter to H E President Gotabaya
Rajapakse on behalf of the Muslims appealing to grant burial to covid-19 dead.
This is not to argue against their petition but to ask 2 questions. Firstly,
why not issue a similar petition on behalf of the Catholics who also bury their
dead? Isn’t their mental state affected as well? If mental state is what the
petitioners are highlighting how about the feelings of the families of the
other victims who had to forsake their traditional customs as well. Did these
petitioners comment one word on behalf of the other dead victims? Secondly, why
not speak on behalf of the Sinhalese & Tamils who comprise almost 90% of
the population & had their Avurudu (New Year) celebrations cancelled by the
Government-aren’t their sentiments hurt too? Doesn’t this selective championing
of ‘justice’ highlight very clearly the bias of these petitioners?
These
163 ‘civil society voices’ were appealing to address the ‘country’s distressed
Muslims’ and ‘put to rest their fears’ that they are being ‘punished’, and that
the country has ‘little respect for their concerns’. They cite the cremation of
a Muslim on 30th March 2020. The activists claim that the Muslim
faith requires the dead to be buried and not cremated.
Close
to 70 signatories are Muslim, just over 40 signatories are Tamils, close to 40
signatories are Sinhalese:
Prominent
names on the list include
Academics:Dr.
Nimalka Fernando, Attorney-at-law, Dr. Paikiasothy
Saravanamuttu, Dr.
Jehan Perera, National Peace Council Prof
Ameer Ali, Dr. Farzana Haniffa, University Of Colombo, Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare, Dr. Kaushalya Fernando, Prof. Arjuna Parakrama, University Of
Peradeniya, Prof. Gameela Samarasinghe,
University Of Colombo. Dr. Harini
Amarasuriya, Open University Of Sri Lanka
Legal:Lal
Wijenayake, Attorney-at-law, Justice. Dr. Saleem Marsoof, Srinath Perera, Attorney-at-aw, United
Socialist Party, K.S. Ratnavel,
Attorney-at-law
Journalist: Latheef Farook, Emil van der
Poorten
Others:Radhika
Coomaraswamy, Bhavani Fonseka, Visakha Tillekeratne, Chief Commissioner, Sri Lanka Girl Guides
Association Ruki Fernando, Devanesan
Nesiah, Bishop Duleep de Chickera,
Prof. Rajan Hoole, Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole
Some of these names of course are well
known for their open bias but it is strange to see the signatories of Church
heads who ideally should have insisted on the petitioners mentioning the denial
of Catholics to bury dead too. Why is the entire petition voicing only 1
community only? Then you get a member of
the Election Commission also signing and he does what he likes.
A
day after the petition the Island newspaper carried a statement by the Sri
Lanka Human Rights Commissioner Deepika Udugama Cremation of Muslim covid-19
victims – Govt should have consulted the community’ – leaders of the Muslim community, medical
professionals of the Muslim community, scientists of the Muslim community.
If
the SLHR Head is highlight religious sensitivities why is she not asking if the
Govt consulted the Buddhist leaders, the Hindu leaders and all others who were
going to celebrate the Sinhala-Tamil Aluth Avuruda? Why is she not coming
forward to speak on behalf of the Buddhist-Hindu sensitivities for having their
cherished and ancient custom completely cancelled. Avurudu is a time where
there is much sharing and giving, families prepare all sorts of food items
which are shared to family and friends, there are rituals like preparation of
meals, going to the temples, worshipping one’s parents, visiting one’s
relations, the exchange of money which even the banks and companies look forward
to, there is exchange of clothes and gifts and there are plenty of games and
fun that all communities take part in and look forward to. The government has
not only imposed curfew throughout this period but the police have declared
that even if anyone is going visiting family or friends with sweetmeats they’ll
end up eating them in prison.
How
about the sensitivities of the country’s majority faith and populace who are
told they cannot celebrate Avurudu? Why is the SLHR not coming forward on
behalf of them and speaking for their sensitivities too? Why are the 163
petitioners and other organizations also ignoring the mental condition and
sensitivities of these people?
Covid-19 Dead
Victim
1 – Sinhala Buddhist
Victim
2 – Muslim
Victim
3 – Muslim
Victim
4 – Sinhala Buddhist
Victim
5 – Sinhala Catholic
Victim
6 – Sinhala Catholic
Victim
7 – Muslim
Though
the victims died on different days the same procedure was followed for all
Bodies were not washed, embalmed or touched
Bodies were placed inside a sealed bag and coffin was
sealed
Bodies were taken to crematorium within 12hrs of
their death
ONLY 2 of the closest relatives were allowed to
witness
GMO explained to relative the cause of death & procedure
being carried out
Bodies were placed in incinerator that generated heat
of over 1200 centigrade
Protective garments of pallbearers were destroyed
immediately afterwards
All involved were sprayed with disinfectant
Crematorium was disinfected
Vehicle that transported coffin was also disinfected.
NONE of the victims had final rites as per their
faith
It
is completely wrong of the 163 petitioners to claim that Muslims are being ‘punished’
and that the country has ‘little respect for their concerns’ and that the
Government should ‘put to rest their fears’. The petitioners were voicing only
9% of the people of Sri Lanka.
What
about the 91% why are the petitioners ignoring their sensitivities?
Seven
persons died of covid-19 of this only 3 were Muslims.
2
Sinhala Buddhists and 2 Sinhala Catholics also died.
Final
rites and customs were not performed on these 4 non-Muslims too. No victims’
funeral took place following their cultural values or religious practices. Why then
are the petitioners presenting a notion that Sri Lanka was purposely targeting
only Muslims?
Only highlighting the sensitivities of
only one community totally ignoring the other communities equally victims is
unacceptable and the petitioners and the SL Human Rights Head owes the 91% a
public apology.
For
academics, professors, professionals, attorneys and people holding important
portfolios in society this is a despicable act and quite unbecoming of them.
However, in so doing it has publicly exposed their names and their characters to all.
Professor Anthony Costello courtesy The Guadian (UK)
Anthony Costello is professor of global health and sustainable development at University College London
Data from east Asia shows testing, tracing and isolating people with coronavirus is the best way to tackle the pandemic
Construction workers are tested for coronavirus in Wuhan, China, 7 April 2020. Photograph: China News Service/China News Service via Getty Images
When will the pandemic end? The future is uncertain, but it seems likely that over the next 18 months the UK will experience a cycle of national lockdowns while it awaits a vaccine. This is far from ideal. Repeated lockdowns could lead to mass unemployment, rising national debt, uncontrolled bankruptcies and widespread social unrest as people grow sick of draconian measures. Many people are now asking how quickly the lockdown can be lifted – and how soon we can return to normal.
Monitoring the reproductive rate of infection figure, R0, will be crucial to any decision about lifting the lockdown. The figure indicates how contagious an infection is. As the R0 number drops below one, each existing infection causes less than one new infection; eventually, the outbreak will decline and die out. When R0 remains steadily less than one, governments may decide to gradually loosen restrictions, with the lockdown relaxed earlier in lower intensity areas and later in hotspot cities such as London.
New data published this week in the Lancet, from a team of researchers at the University of Hong Kong led by the clinician Gabriel Leung, shows that the spread of infection in China outside Wuhan, measured by the R0 in four major cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wenzhou) fell below one within two weeks of partial lockdown. This is good news; it shows a partial lockdown can quite quickly suppress transmission of the virus. Our national lockdown and social distancing measures may already have brought the R0 down across much of the country.Advertisement
But the problem still remains of how to prevent a second surge. The Hong Kong researchers worry that as economic activity restarts, local and imported cases of coronavirus could lead to new outbreaks. And the R0 rate varies across different regions: case fatality rates were just below 1% in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wenzhou compared with 5.9% in Wuhan. We will likely also see a higher rate of infection and death rate in London than the rest of the UK.
Moreover there’s a crucial difference between the response to coronavirus in China and that in the UK. From the beginning of the outbreak, the Lancet researchers note, only residents were allowed to enter residential communities, face mask-wearing was made compulsory, and non-essential community services were shut down”. Health authorities also found cases, traced contacts and isolated them, monitoring their quarantine closely.
So it was not just a lockdown and social distancing that were responsible for bringing down the R0 number in China, but the country’s community surveillance approach. Scarred by memories of the Sars outbreak in 2002, China and other east Asian states acted with greater speed, imposing total or partial lockdowns supported by a protective shield of community measures – finding people with the virus, isolating them swiftly, and tracing those they contacted.
In South Korea, this took the form of mass testing and digital contact tracing; in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam, health authorities identified cases based on people’s symptoms, and used testing when available. Strict isolation of cases and contacts was monitored by phone apps and home visits. Rather than enforcing a one-size-fits-all approach, China varied the lockdown across different regions. While Wuhan was under total lockdown, other provinces had more autonomy, and focused on quarantining the household clusters where most transmission took place.
Data seems to show that this approach is the right one. Death rates in Asian countries have been lower than in the US and Europe (South Korea’s death rate, for example, is four per million and stable; the UK’s is 105 per million – and rising). In addition to helping reduce the R0 number, a community shield may also allow governments to lift national lockdowns more quickly. Rather than maintaining a prolonged lockdown, governments can target measures at people who actually have coronavirus. This would likely be far less disruptive to the economy: better to quarantine 10% of people who have coronavirus symptoms than an entire population.
At first, Britain eschewed the community shield approach. On 12 March the government stopped community testing and moved to a delay” phase, explaining that a managed spread of the virus across 60% of the population, with a case fatality rate around 1%, would hopefully produce herd immunity and allow the economy to move on. After its modellers realised this strategy would overwhelm the NHS, the government enforced a lockdown. It is now attempting to conduct 10,000 tests a day, mostly in hospitals for patients and health workers.
Despite Britain’s slow start, there are reasons for hope. Behind the scenes, general practices and public health workers are working at tremendous speed to build our own protective shield. They’re finding places to treat infected patients who aren’t sick enough for the hospital but can’t be nursed at home, visiting those with long-term conditions or coronavirus symptoms, and building a picture of community spread using 111 data. The UK should also be able to roll out contact tracing using the new NHSX app and the popular Zoe Covid symptom tracker.
We have four to six weeks to ramp up testing and build our community shield before we lift the lockdown. After this, we can then get most people back to work, focus on quarantining individual cases and contacts, and suppress outbreaks if they arise. Hopefully, this approach will help us avoid further national lockdowns. But it will take a long time before life returns to normal.
• Anthony Costello is professor of global health and sustainable development at University College London
Galle Face Green was established in 1859 by Governor
Sir Henry Ward, for the sole purpose of recreation.
A 1.6 km long promenade was constructed along the oceanside, especially with the purpose of ladies and children to saunter and take in the air.
Galle Face originally was spread over a much larger area than it exists today. Records indicate that its northern boundary extended up to Beira Lake (near Gangaramaya temple).
The very large Green was used for various sports such as golf, hockey, cricket, and horseracing. The first-ever Royal – Thomian cricket match was played at Galle Face in 1879 (which Royal won by 56 runs). It is stated that the two teams rowed across the Beira Lake to reach the ground.
Galle Face was always a very flat land until in the early 1990s the then government decided to erect terraces and sections divided within.
Today, Galle Face is Colombo’s largest open
space (about 5 hectares).
Galle Face was always fully covered with grass, hence the name, Galle Face Green. Given that grass is replaced by the soil in many places today, is it appropriate to call it the Galle Face Dirt?
(Dirt = Topsoil)
Until the turn of the century, families flocked to Galle Face to enjoy the sea under the vast open sky. There were many who used the Green for their early morning or evening strolls and physical exercise. People used to buy gram/wade from vendors. They were simple, mobile traders, not established eateries. Ice cream vans of reputed firms parked alongside the Galle Road and sold quality ice cream.
In mid/late 1990s eateries were established alongside the promenade from the Galle Face hotel side to the giant flagpole; this permanently changed Galle Face’s dimension.
One of the main attractions of today’s Galle Face is food – it is famous for greasy/oily, meaty foods such as kotthu, roties/parata, burgers, fried potatoe chips, hotdogs and buriyani. Now, there are permanent gram/wade stands. A Wade with a tiny fried crab on top is very popular. The crab is mostly caught in Galle Face sea itself, so fresh wade is fried on the spot. Various carbonated and sweetened drinks are sold in the eateries. All the eateries and permanent wade stands have a brisk business.
The thick greasy smoke and the strong smell that emanate from various foods are expanded by the sea breeze to the rest of the Green. It is an offensive smoke/smell.
Areas, where the eateries located, are very crowded and noisy. Some shops have erected stadium type lights.
This is the last thing that those who come to
the Green for quiet enjoyment/evening stroll want.
Now, Galle Face attracts fewer families and individuals
that go to enjoy the breeze, do exercise.
Galle Face has largely lost its traditional
users, it now attracts youngish, vocal, impatient crowds.
Though Galle Face was known worldwide as
Colombo’s place for peaceful/serene enjoyment; today it is famous as Colombo’s place
for street/junk food.
The two identities do not complement each
other, they are poles apart.
One would argue that the writer is wrong; that,
Galle Face now has two distinct identities and it is good.
The writer states that the newly introduced commercialization has eroded Galle Face’s innocence, originality, and authenticity.
One could see men in small groups secretly drinking alcohol hidden under the night’s darkness. Recently, an upmarket restaurant commenced operations – located at the very beginning of the Galle Face, on Galle Face Centre Road. They have erected big signs. They sell alcohol with a band playing live music. The noise amplifies into the Green. It will not be a surprise if similar restaurants pop up in that area.
Galle
Face is full of various kinds of vendors; there is no control of them. Some act
as if they ‘own’ the place. Kite sellers, plastic toy sellers have forcibly
acquired large swaths of the Green, people find it difficult to maneuver through
and walk. At dark, children and even adults fall over upon entangling on kite string
– kites anchored on the floor for sale. When such things happen, they often receive
abuse as if it was their fault.
A visitor to Galle Face in the early morning could see thousands of crows converged on the park to eat the previous night’s leftover food in dustbins and food scattered across the Green. In the early mornings, there are many stray dogs. Large rats have risen up, some are big as cats. Wastewater from food businesses could be seen lying stagnated in the open dilapidated drains.
All these are new additions to Galle Face thanks to the introduction of many eateries. There is a strong possibility that eateries could increase up to the Kingsbury Hotel’s end. The cash strapped governments are greedy for rent monies.
Opening up Galle Face for such large scale eateries
is contrary to the purpose in which it was established.
The writer is not against good, quality eateries
being formed in Colombo. He states Galle Face is not the place for that. If
they want to eat junk/fast food, those people should go elsewhere. They could well
be established along Galle Road from Colpetty towards Mt Lavinia.
Colpetty/Bambalapitiya can be the Centre for street/fast
food eateries. There are properties on Galle Road and Marine Drive available
for this. Colombo’s nightlife can blossom in those areas, not at Galle Face.
Galle Face is a place for calm, tranquil relaxation. It is the only place in Colombo where people can breathe quality fresh air, enjoy the sea breeze and simply relax. They should be able to freely roam everywhere in the Green.
People should be able to visit Galle Face with
families. Those who want to jog/walk/do workouts, bring pets (on leash) and
even meditate/yoga should be able to freely do them. Children should be able to
run around, fly kites and go on pony rides.
Galle Face is so important to Colombians (all
Colombo residents – big and small). It is part of Colombo’s psyche. It would
have easily qualified for World Heritage status, but unlikely now.
Mr. Mass L Usuf, who is well versed in Islamic jurisprudence in an article titled Understanding the question of Cremation and Burial” written to Colombo Telegraph has said that almost everyone, some way or the other, is bounded by religion and religious traditions, the disposal of a dead body is also bound by religious significance since the deceased has departed from his/her earthly sojourn. Beliefs, traditions, rituals, and practices dictate as to how the dead has to be laid to rest. The ancient Zoroastrians believed that the burial or cremation of the corpse would pollute water and soil which was forbidden in their religion. Therefore, in India, a Parsi’s dead body is placed in a built-up place called a ‘Dakhma’ known as the Tower of Silence. Here birds of prey like vultures would devour it. This 3,000-year-old ritual is called ‘sky burial’, and the Tibetan Buddhists also practice Sky burials in their traditional methods of body disposals. It is their belief that such disposal illustrates the impermanence (anicca) of life.
In Islam, he
says, the religious instruction is to bury the dead and cremation is forbidden. It is
unimaginable for a Muslim to allow his/her loved one to be cremated. This
religious sentiment has to be recognised with humanity and mutual respect. It
is not something new that is demanded but has been in practise for thousands of
years as is in all religious traditions.
It must be emphasised
that this prohibition in Islam is flexible. Islamic jurisprudence has provision for
cremation if that is what is medically required for the common good of all the
living beings – maṣlaḥah (public interest). Rationally,
in addressing this topic, specific to burial, what needs to be looked at is the
medical viewpoint.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the incubation period for the novel coronavirus is estimated at 5 to 6 days, ranging from 0 to 14 days. When compared with the Ebola virus, the incubation period, or the time interval from infection to onset of symptoms, is from 2 to 21 days. Comparatively, Ebola virus is a high-risk contagion identified as a fatal disease.
Mortality Rates: The death rate for Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever) can go up to 90%. The mortality rate of the new coronavirus is around 1% according to the UK’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty. The World Health Organization’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, talked of 3.4%.
Infection After Death: Levels of Ebola virus remain high after death, thus bodies of those who have died from the Ebola virus disease must be handled only by people wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and must be buried immediately. WHO advises that bodies of people who may have died from Ebola virus disease should be handled only by trained burial teams, who are equipped to properly bury the dead, safely and with dignity.
In contrast, the after-death infection in COVID-19 is explained very clearly by the Royal College of Pathologists, the U.K as follows with regard to the risk to Mortuary staff, it is greater from visitors than the deceased from the COVID-19.”
Ebola virus can persist in used needles, syringes or vials for several weeks. The virus can persist in the body fluids of survivors for many months and can be transmitted well after recovery, or in rare cases can result in relapse – as we have already seen during the outbreak. Despite the high-risk levels of the Ebola virus disease 26,000 safe and dignified BURIALS had been conducted as per the remarks by Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall (World Health Organization Assistant Director-General, Emergency Response, 6 March 2020 Statement).
From a medical science point of view burial of a COVID-19 corpse has been accepted.
The protocols for BURIAL of the deceased of the COVID-19 are already in place in several countries.
Australia issuing a statement on the handling of bodies by funeral directors has said that Funeral directors and mortuary personnel are unlikely to contract COVID-19 from deceased persons infected with the virus, however, precautionary strategies should be used to minimise public health risks and to prevent the spread of disease.
In Nevada, U.S.A the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that decedents with COVID-19 may be BURIED or cremated according to the family’s preferences. The state of Nevada specifically clarified and said: Decedents with COVID-19 can be buried or cremated.”
Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) issued strict orders on how to prepare COVID-19 bodies for BURIAL. (THESTAR, 24.03.2020).
Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare in India issued guidelines for its citizens with
regard to protocols to be followed in the case of BURIALS.
The National
Burial Council of the United Kingdom has been working with Public Health
England to best plan for facilitating the BURIAL of Muslims who pass away from
COVID-19. In
answer to the question, What is the UK Government position on enforced
cremation?”, the following was the reply.
On 23 March,
the UK Government has confirmed that the emergency legislation to deal with the
COVID-19 pandemic will now recognise the importance of ensuring faith
communities are able to bury the deceased instead of cremating in the event of
significant deaths due to Coronavirus. The legislation has now made clear that enforced cremation
against the wishes of the individual, will not take place when there are burial
facilities available.
The European
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Technical Report states that decedents
with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 can be BURIED or cremated as usual. (Stockholm:
ECDC; 2020).
An examination of these precedents will help us to formulate our local policy in this regard. It is very clear that there is no danger to the public in burying the dead from Covid-19. Of course, the final wish of the deceased and/or the family members have to be respected. Anyone who wishes to be cremated, such a wish has to be carried out. In any event, a Muslim’s wish will always be a burial. Those who died of the Ebola virus disease had been buried even though it was a more infectious virus. In comparison, there should not be an issue in burying the decedents of the Covid-19 virus. However, it is extremely important that guidelines for handling covid-19 bodies are strictly followed.
Meanwhile, Shiranthi Ranasinghe in an article written to News in, Asia website on Cremation over burial states that controversy over the cremation of Muslims began with a message posted on Facebook by Leader of the Muslim Congress MP Rauf Hakeem. Whether his post initiated the controversy or whether he simply articulated some discontent from within the Muslim community is difficult to say.
However, at the All Party
Conference, he did not want to bring this issue before the assembly and Prime
Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa then pointed out that there is nothing to hide and
it is best to discuss this matter openly as all political leaders and officials
responsible for decision making were present.
The article says that after
much insistence from the Premier, Hakeem
noted his concerns as,
– According to the earlier guidelines issued by the Director-General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe, burial or cremation was permissible
– This is in line with the
guidelines issued by the WHO as well
– WHO has clearly stated
that the possibility of the COVID-19 spreading from a corpse is a myth.
Dr. Jasinghe, who was also present at this conference, then explained the reasons for the officials to eventually choose cremation as the best and most effective means to dispose of bodies of COVID-19 positive patients as,
– The WHO guidelines are only a general guideline. It has not taken into consideration the topography and other factors that are unique to each country.
– In Sri Lanka, the water
table is high, which is the main issue in this matter.
– In addition, our soil is very porous and the composition itself is very absorbent. This might pose a danger of becoming a medium for the virus to spread.
– The topography in Sri
Lanka changes within kilometers. This makes it difficult to separate areas with
a clear demarcation line. Therefore, it is not possible to accommodate these
variations when formulating a standard.
– It is the people that need
to be taken into consideration. Then, differentiate people according to ethnic
groups is not possible.
– When death occurs, the priority is to dispose of the body as quickly as possible. Thus it needs to be disposed at the closest possible location.
It must be also noted that,
However, according to the
mathematical modeling done by the Medical Faculty of Colombo University, the
number of infected can reach as high as 1,400.
Dr. Jasinghe assures that the free health service in Sri Lanka is getting ready to meet this challenge.
In the meantime, the
Government Medical Officers Association has warned that if this number exceeds
2,500, our systems will fail and it is impossible at this stage to predict
whether the numbers would reach 1,400 or exceed 2,500.
This virus is reported to be
spreading exponentially. We do not have any immunity against it. Therefore, we
must physically stop it from spreading.
Unlike in a war, where the outcome is dependent largely on the combatants, in this crisis, the outcome lies with each and every individual citizen. This means that we are dealing with a situation with a large number of variables.
For example, the third Sri Lankan patient to die of this virus has compromised at least 326 people through simple association. Thus it is clear that one person’s irresponsible act(s) can unravel even the best-laid plans. Hence, we must prepare for the possibility of dealing with a large number of deaths, as is the reality in many other countries.
As WHO notes, we still know very little about this virus. According to the findings so far, it is believed that while heat kills it, dampness helps it to thrive. What does this mean in an untreated body filling with fluids remains to be seen? Certain scientists claim that the virus can survive in the refrigerator for up to 28 days. This of course perhaps needs to be verified further by other scientific sources as well.
Even though this body is in a sealed body bag and in a sealed coffin, it is not possible for us to guarantee the outcome in 100 or more years. One may dismiss this as far fetched or an exaggerated worry. At the same time, let us not dismiss offhand accounts of scientists and excavators dying suddenly due to unknown causes after days of opening ancient tombs and coffins. It is easy enough to blame a mysterious curse, when in fact it might have been a virus as deadly as COVID-19. The last thing we would want is for this highly infectious, deathly virus to revisit our world – even 100 or 1,000 years later.
Taking all these factors on
board, it is obvious to the logical mind that the best option is to destroy
this virus completely. Yet, instead of reporting on Sri Lanka’s success or even
mentioning it, certain international media channels have erroneously reported
that the Government,
– Held hostage by extreme
hardline Buddhist monks
– Had forcibly cremated the
bodies of the Muslim patients
– To hurt the feelings of
the Muslims.
Very mischievously, these journalists have completely omitted that the final rites of the other patients, who were not Muslim, were also not allowed. It must be noted that the Catholic to bury their dead. Buddhists also sometimes opt for burial than cremation.
This raises the question,
whether these journalists who wrote these very erroneous and utterly
irresponsible articles were truly ignorant that,
– Buddhists and a Catholic
were also among the dead;
– Final rites of all were not
performed;
– The disposal of the bodies
was not in line with any cultural values or religious practices.
The bodies of the patients
who were Buddhists were not treated any differently from those of other faiths.
Interestingly, though these articles appear on different channels, the same errors are seen to eclipse in most reports. Perhaps these journalists were too lazy to do their own homework. They may have copied each other’s work and instead of verifying, modified it enough to pass it off as their own work. It is also possible that these journalists might have been sponsored to write such tribal-minded, incendiary articles. Either way, the result is the same. Their unprofessionalism compromises the integrity of the media.
A fine example of attempting to use the current situation to espouse anti-Muslim sentiments in the Sinhala community was made by the notorious Pakiasothy Sarawanamuttu, who sustain two websites with foreign funds – The Ground Views and Vikalpa.org – mainly devoted to bloat the UNP, the terrorist diaspora, and the TNA scoundrels and heads an anti-Sri Lankan outfit called The Centre for Policy Alternatives. I think for the first time this Judas has got hold of some hitherto unheard so-called magnanimous Muslim ladies to write a joint article against the government’s disposal of the bodies of Corona infected bodies.
They say that it is with heavy hearts that they have listened to
and observed the debates on whether or not burials should be permitted for
Muslims who succumb to COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and parts of Muslim communities in
Sri Lanka believe that the government acted unfairly in hastily cremating the
remains of two Muslim victims of COVID-19, that the will and wishes of families
of the deceased were not considered, and that there was no explanation of why
WHO guidelines that allow for burials with strict conditions could not be
followed.
Continuing, they say that grieving the dead and funeral rites are important to all people, regardless of religious affiliations and the rituals that each of adopts whether traditional or not, whether informed by religion or not, is based on a deep desire to secure dignity and peace for our deceased loved ones and the rituals also provide a degree of control over how we grieve and give us a meaningful way of honouring our loved ones as they pass from this world.
In epitomizing Pakysothy’s vicious racist and communal jargon these ladies state that Muslims are equal citizens of Sri Lanka and this equality transcends every aspect of their lives and ensuring this equality places responsibilities on the state, as well as the respective Muslim communities. Repeating the hollow remarks that had been made by Pakyasothy many times, they say the state has the responsibility of giving due consideration and respect to the views and beliefs of its citizens, and in today’s context to also set an example of respectful, non-xenophobic, non-discriminatory conduct and use language that does not place blame or incite ill will. The government and media must ensure the privacy of those in quarantine, patients, and the deceased and their loved ones. The strict protocols relating to COVID-19 deaths can be implemented with the utmost dignity and respect for human beings who have passed away. It is both an individual and a collective right to dignity.
The is a typical example that the abhorrent friction that was attempted to create by Hakeem and Mujibur Rehan is now being used by miscreants like Pakiasothy and it will not be a surprise if despicable pettifogger fellows like Sajith Premadasa’s mentor Victor Ivan (1971 JVP’s bomb manufacturing Guru) Sambandan, Sumanthiran and even JVP’s newfound ideologue Kumar David ventured in the forthcoming days to politicize the situation.
It should be noted that the WHO has issued several directives against employing racial discrimination and prejudice related to Convid-19 matters and the Sri Lankan government has issued a new gazette notification on 12th April as well in addition to the previous gazette providing guidelines on the burial of COVID-19 dead bodies.
The Government of Sri Lanka has introduced a new bank account termed Special Deposit Account (SDA) for all Sri Lankans living in and outside the country to remit their foreign currency earnings, savings and investments to any bank of their choice in Sri Lanka. It is in the form of Term Deposits either in any designated foreign currency or in Sri Lanka Rupees.
Any Sri Lankan individual resident in or outside Sri Lanka as well as dual citizens, citizens of other States with Sri Lankan origin, non-nationals residents in or outside Sri Lanka, Funds, corporate bodies, associations incorporated/registered outside Sri Lanka and any other well-wishers can open Special Deposit Accounts at any Sri Lankan bank of their preference.
While there is no prescribed minimum amount to be deposited, the minimum period of maturity is six (06) months. Higher interest rates than the normal rates offered to foreign currency deposits will be offered at maturity. Accordingly, 1 percent and 2 percent points per annum for SDA with a tenure of 6 months and 12 months respectively will be paid. Funds are freely convertible and repatriable outside Sri Lanka on maturity.
Please see the following two attachments containing information on SDA:
The Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington D.C. invites fellow Sri Lankans living in the United States of America and other foreign nationals to invest in SDAs, while expressing their solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka, during this challenging environment.
For inquiries, please contact:
1. Mr. Sarath Dissanayake
Deputy Chief of Mission
Mobile: 202 816
9666
Email:dcm@slembassyusa.org
The US now accounts for a third of the “active” COVID-19 cases in the world. According to the latest figures put out by the WHO, there were 1,101,497 active cases in the world as a whole on Thursday April 9. Out of this, 397,472 were in the US. In contrast, China had only 1,160 active cases.
Of the 88,565 deaths due to COVID-19 in the world as a whole, the US accounted for 14,797 and China 3,335. The US stood at the top of the pile in terms of active and critical cases, though in terms of the number of deaths, the toll was more in Spain and Italy.
Experts say that while the US is rich and has a sophisticated health infrastructure, its healthcare facilities are expensive and out of reach for millions. It is not State-backed to the extent it is in the UK. When Barack Obama was President, he introduced the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)” in 2010, which came to be known as “Obamacare”.
Obamacare based on the insurance system
But Obamacare is still based on the insurance system, unlike the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, which is entirely free and available to all irrespective of class. No wonder, the US was topping the list in coronavirus infection on April 9, while the UK was eighth.
According to available literature on the subject, Obamacare mandated that everyone buy insurance. As a result, healthier young people paid premiums even though they didn’t use their insurance as much as older people did. That offset insurance companies’ cost of insuring even the most sick.
The ACA prevented companies from excluding anyone. As a result, everyone could afford to see a doctor before their symptoms turned into a crisis. Prior to the ACA, the uninsured used expensive hospital emergency rooms as their primary care provider.
Obamacare expanded subsidies for middle-income families. That allowed more people to afford better insurance packages. Prior to the ACA, only families with corporate-sponsored insurance could afford comprehensive plans.
Obamacare tax increase resented
To pay for the subsidies, Obamacare increased taxes on health care providers and high-income earners. People making US$ 200,000 a year (US $250,000 for married couples) paid higher income and investment taxes. To enforce the mandate, a tax penalty was levied on those without insurance. The US Congress repealed the tax penalty with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It went into effect in 2019.
But the increased tax burden generated opposition from conservatives. This led President Donald Trump to declare that he will repeal Obamacare. However, it is still there benefiting about 4.1 million people.
UK’s NHS
The NHS of the UK is completely state-funded and is comprehensive. It is also cheaper than Obamacare. The NHS spends much less per person than the American health-care system does, yet it achieves better outcomes, according to the Commonwealth Fund which monitors health management in select Western countries.
The Netherlands’ system is not based on a single-payer of the bill (unlike the NHS). But like the NHS, it also achieves near-universal coverage through close government regulation. The US system is also too expensive by European standards. Despite Obamacare, which made health insurance somewhat affordable, insurance is still expensive as per European standards. No wonder 26 million Americans did not have health insurance as recently as in 2016.
The US doesn’t invest in social services. Things like home visiting, better housing, and subsidised healthy food which could improve chronic disease outcomes don’t exist there. It is because of all these factors that life expectancy has been going down in the US as compared to the 1960s.
Choosing guns over butter
The US spends more on weapons of war than public health. It downsizes budgets of health institutions for the sake of spending more on weapons programs, says Gregory D. Koblentz and Michael Hunzeker of George Mason University who are experts in biological threats to National Security.
They wrote in The Atlantic that the US Establishment has been consistently ignoring threats from viruses and has been spending heavily on weapon systems.
The American Establishment had forgotten that viruses could kill more Americans than weapons in war. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed at least 40 million people and among the dead were 195,000 Americans.
Koblentz and Hunzeker point out that the Trump administration was not interested in fighting threats from viruses. “It raided the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s budget for working with other countries on biosecurity threats to pay for more research on hypersonic missiles.
The National Nuclear Security Administration saw its budget increased by 20 percent to pay for new nuclear weapons, even as the administration slashed the budget for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by 15 percent,” they say.
The entire 2019 federal budget for all health security-related programs was about US$ 13.6 billion. In contrast, the Trump administration has requested almost US$ 46 billion in funding for nuclear weapons programs in its 2021 budget proposal, the authors point out.
Koblentz and Hunzeker quote Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg who said that the single biggest threat to humanity’s continued dominance on this planet is the virus. Biomedical research, public health preparedness, and international cooperation are the keys to global health security, the laureate said.
But what President Trump is doing is just the opposite. He is going to cut funding for WHO because it allegedly prevented him from clamping a ban on travel when the COVID-19 threat was spotted on the horizon. He charged that WHO was working behind the scenes for China.
If indeed US funding for WHO ceases, the only world organisation working for disease control and health across the globe will go kaput.
Seven more persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) today bringing the country’s infections tally to 210, says the Ministry of Health.
All the coronavirus cases confirmed today were found among the persons who were put under mandatory quarantine for having close contacts with the previously identified COVID-19 patients.
According to the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, 147 coronavirus patients are currently under medical care.
Out of the total number of confirmed cases in Sri Lanka, 56 patients have recovered completely while 7 persons succumbed to the virus.
Sri Lanka has amended a law to make cremation compulsory for those dying from the novel coronavirus to prevent any potential threat.
The Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance (Chapter 222) has been amended by a gazette issued by Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, the government said.
Wanniarachchi said that the body shall be burned at a temperature between 800 to 1200 degrees Celsius for a minimum period of 45 minutes to one hour.
She said that the cremation should take place at a cemetery or a place approved by the authorities.
The amended law prevents bodies from being handed over to anyone other than to persons who undertake the necessary duties of cremation”.
The attire and non-reusable personal protective equipment used by persons who handle the corpse shall also be destroyed during cremation.
A decline in the coronavirus infections in the country is expected in the coming days, said Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe.
The patients identified are all linked to one patient; therefore, there is no difficulty in identifying the spread of the infection, Dr. Jasinghe said.
Obtaining samples from high-risk sites for infection have been increased in order to curtail the spread of the virus, he added.
Jasinghe further said that the results of the tests carried out yesterday could be expected today.
Meanwhile, a total of 208 samples have been collected from Punani quarantine camp alone and that is the highest number of samples obtained from a single site, he said.
However, cases of infection are still reported and this should be brought down to naught, Jasinghe pointed out.
Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was carried out at quarantine centers even today (12).
Spanish colonial crimes – Bull Fighting – Spanish Flu – Covid-19 do you see a connection? Do these trail of thoughts carry a trail of tears? Do they implore Spain to revisit their moral standing of past and present actions? Over 500 years of colonial crimes, over 300 years of bullfighting, Nature has watched silently and patiently the pain and anguish of the natives whose lands & pride were stolen by European explorers and the tortures bulls were subject to. When nature saw no signs of repentance or remorse, Nature unleashed her fury. First in the form of the Spanish flu (Jan1918 to Dec1920) killing some 50million people and now in 2020 Spain has again been brought to heel and face a new agony – covid-19. Mother Nature has made Spain to go through exactly what they inflicted for centuries on natives that they tortured, killed and plundered and for the cruelty they inflicted on bulls in the gruesome sport of bullfighting. Will Spain treat covid-19 as karmic retribution and resolve to atone for its crimes by apology and reparations to South America & to end bullfighting? Hemingway wrote, A death will occur this afternoon, will it be man or animal?” – it should be neither.
What the Spanish conquistadors did to South America over 500 years are far worse than what Hitler & Germany committed on the Jews.
The Indians were totally deprived of their freedom and were put into the harshest, fiercest, most horrible servitude and captivity which no one who has not seen it can understand. Even beasts enjoy more freedom when they are allowed to graze in the field.
Bartolomé de las Casas”
The Age of ‘Discovery’ meant
declaring as ‘found’ already inhabited islands and territories. Spain was
responsible for eliminating erasing 3 ancient civilizational tribes – Incas,
Mayas and Aztecs, committing genocide of their culture, their literature, their
language and their customs. Today these very nations are sending their people
to study about the ancient civilizations that they erased and turn their stories
into coffee table books.
Native Americans were turned into
slaves, slaves were imported from Africa. The Natives had their customs,
traditions, rituals erased. They were forced to sign illegal treaties that
ceded their lands to White Nations. Historians estimate 50million natives lived
in Americas when Spain landed in the 15th century. That number
became 2million in one of the world’s forgotten genocides committed by European
explorers via small pox/measles and the gun.
Hernan Cortes, Pedro de Alvarado
destroyed the Aztec civilization (present Mexico), Batoleome de Las Casas, Juan
Gines de Sepulveda, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas (present Peru) &
the Mayan empire constituting the modern countries of Mexico, Guatemala,
Belize, Honduras & El Salvador were all vanquished.
Covid-19 is making Spain undergo
a catharsis and the agony is likely to continue until genuine signs of
repentance is seen. Until such time the
world cannot sympathize or empathize with Spain. Spain and the Spanish people
must atone for their crimes.
If Germany & Japan were made to
face their sins and forced to atone for their crimes, there is no reason why
Spain shouldn’t. Germany was forced to atone for its crimes via the Nuremberg
Tribunals in the case of Spain, Mother Nature is showing Spain a lesson for not
only killing man but animals as well.
Isn’t it ironic that most of the
countries severely hit by covid-19 inspite of proudly referring to themselves
as the First World, calling themselves ‘civilized’ nations, are unable to deal
and contain the virus. Is it that they cannot or is it that Nature is divinely
interfering to make them taste the medicine they forced upon others. Aren’t
these nations including Spain now facing the same tune they inflicted with
cruel intent on others?
Spain never received the justice
it deserved because the white man controlled the world. All of the former
colonial powers gathered to protect their own and continue to do so. They
decided what was fact and what was fiction. Victor’s justice ruled. They wrote
and rewrote history according to their whims and fancies. All of the worlds’
discoveries became attributed to the white man. Only now we know Columbus never
discovered America!
As Spain suffers from covid-19, with
close to 20,000 deaths and over 180,000 cases, Mother Nature is telling the
Spanish to open its eyes, to repent the crimes committed in the past against
humans and animals and look at the crimes being committed in the present.
500 years of colonial crimes and
300 years of bull fighting leaves Spain much to ponder over. The tears of the
bull are no different in measure than the tears of natives slaughtered to
death. Until
the bull learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter”
Before a bull enters the ring, his horns are cut with hacksaw without anesthesia, his eyes are smeared with petroleum jelly to blur vision, his ears are stuffed with cotton, his nostrils are stuffed with newspaper, he is denied food & water for days, Epsom salt induces diarrhea, a needle is shoved into his testicles, he loins are beaten, some are even given tranquilizers, days before the fight he is kept in darkness to further traumatize him and just before he enters the right he is poked with harpoons. Then they take turns on slowly killing him while crowds cheer. With so much pain inflicted for days in advance what is this ‘mastery’ that a matador boasts of over the bull? Eventually the bull is butchered often while still alive and this is called Spanish culture. If Spain regards the matador as ennobled, the mass murderers during colonial rule would have also been garlanded.
Spain is today facing the law of
karma. Do good – good returns. Do bad – bad returns. Newton says ‘every action
has a reaction’. What returns can get modified but it cannot be eliminated. The
change happens only if a person realizes the damage done by one’s deeds and
resolves to ensure such deeds are never repeated. Spain tap your heart &
conscience.
As you sow, so shall you reap” when Spain
and other European explorers confiscated lands already inhabited & declared
they had ‘discovered’ them the white historians made us all to believe these
were ‘their lands’.
Spain and its white-exploring partners
completely disregarded the law of creation – that life doesn’t just happen.
They thought they were the universe and their will must rule. They brushed
aside the law of humility. They completely ignored the law of growth – all
others had to change except themselves. Their law was US vs You. In so doing
they ignored the law of responsibility taking accountability for one’s actions.
They ignored the mirror showing their crimes, the tears and sadness of the people
and animals they inflicted pain and torture.
The innocent people that welcomed these
strange travelers had their generosity and hospitality abused. In return for
their smiles of welcome, they received the sword and thus the law of giving and
hospitality was broken by these white nations.
It was only time that they would also
break the law of connection. By breaking away from the universe they were closing
the door to Nature.
So long as perpetrators of evil to man,
animal and nature do not atone for their crimes history will repeat and
continue to repeat until lessons are learnt and the path of change is adopted.
Annually pandemics have taken place in
1720s, 1820, 1920s and now in 2020. What is clear is that the perpetrators have
not learnt a lesson. Will 2020 instill the law of change?
The intent must now be good thoughts, compassion, humane living, loving contribution to man, society, Nature and even animals.
It
is regret to note that the coronavirus pandemic and associated unstable
economic environment created in the world has caused to dramatically depreciate
official currency units of developing countries. Sri Lanka’s rupee value has depreciated to
more than Rupees 200 to a US dollar and other developing countries also gaining
similar results whether the countries are like or not to the new environment. Despite
the prediction of certain currency speculators that the US Dollar would be
collapsed, it can be seen that currencies of developing countries have
depreciated to an unreasonable level. The prediction may be pessimistic and it
is difficult to believe that the currency market would be in a negative
environment in the medium-term for developed countries. The currency units of
developed countries don’t record a similar type of depreciation recorded in
developing countries. Developed
countries have the economic power to respond against uncertain conditions and
developing countries haven’t got such power. In this environment, developing
countries expect from International Monetary Fund a workable solution to the
problem.
The
depreciating currency value negatively impacts developing countries as domestic
economies of developing countries are depending on imports and the current
currency depreciation condition forced many countries to control imports and
indirectly go to an exchange control regime. There may be a different point of
view of international economists and many developed countries like Australia heavily
dependent on remittances coming from the developing world. Developed countries have foreign assets and foreign
reserves as well as they have the power to borrow and settle the problem in mid
to long term, but developing countries have not such power and they are in a
grave condition. Central Bank of Sri Lanka has introduced new regulations for
outward remittances and new control measures would impact the investment
process.
International
Monetary Fund is the fundamentally responsible organization to act in such a
situation and the World Bank has taken action to provide credit facilities to
some developing countries for medical expenses. The managing director of the
International Monetary Fund, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva admitted that the
world’s poor countries would suffer if the COVID-19 fallout drove markets to
the lowers level since the1930s.” It is
an excellent statement of IMF boss and she also stated that emerging markets
and lower-income nations across Africa, Latin America and much of Asia are most
at risk. Usually, IMF is more concerned with
developed market economies, but this time it concerns on lower-income nations.
The
depreciation of the currency value of developing countries has been a
continuous process since before the corona pandemic and the International
Monetary Fund needs to consider an effective and result oriented solution be
proposed to the world rather than patches to settle the issue. Since the
inception of the International Monetary Fund vital policy actions proposed to
developing countries and some of the suggestions were discordant to them as the
proposal concerned with the political power of developing countries.
The
original condition of the Briton wood Agreement was to allow member countries
to revalue or devalue currencies by 10% without permission of the fund. American
proposal was to introduce a common currency called BANCOR, but it was not
successful. According to the IMF agreement, no country can officially revalue
or devalue the currency unit in the way experienced under the Gold Standard
System. It was a problem for the world at
that time; however, the world is dynamic at present and the stability of
exchange units has been changed since the inception of the IMF despite the
desired level by the proposed situation. Sri Lanka had the first experience of
official devaluing with the permission of the IMF in 1967. The currency unit was
devalued by 20% in response to the official devaluation of Sterling pound by
17.5% and later Sri Lanka introduced the Foreign Exchange Entitlement system
which was an indirect devaluation of currency unit for import payments and
revaluing for non-traditional exports and the FECS system also removed in 1978
introducing adjustable peg system in which the currency unit has been radically
declined during the 42 years. Now, the depreciation has come to a peak level
and it seems that it is good for Sri Lanka and other developing countries
making a parity for currency unit against the US dollar on the current basis at
least to maintain the agreed exchange rate for ten years.
The
depreciation of currencies in lower-income nations negatively affects imports
and debt repayment and the import of capital goods for economic development
purposes would be expensive and returns from the investment would be lower than
expected. In this way, the lower-income nation will have difficulties to
attract foreign investments and exchange control regimes in these countries hit
to the free-market system.
Industrialized
countries and high-income countries with trade power liked to a depreciating
value of currencies in developing countries as it supports buying raw materials
at a lower price and after the 1973 oil crisis developing countries were highly
disadvantaged by oil trade. developed
countries did not listen to the plight of developing countries. The popular advice of developed countries to
maintain an export economy in less-developed countries where supply output
(industrial, commodities and other services) at a lower price to developed
countries. With the results of Coronavirus, the IMF has turned to Africa and
expressed concerns on debt repayment and increasing special drawing rights. It
is a good moved, however, special drawing rights would not positively help to
stabilize the exchange value of domestic currencies in developing countries.
The
year 2000 the European Union took a successful decision to stabilize the
currency introducing EURO as a common currency and could the IMF introduce common
currencies for two major blocks in Asia, SARC and ASIAN countries and stabilize
the currency in these countries. Such an action might force countries to agree
with many conditions. Countries in the Asian continent must agree with such
conditions as the preventing of currency depreciation would bring many happy
returns to each country. In this connection, the role of China and Japan will
be crucial and support to develop strong trade ties and foreign exchange
reserved in all countries.
How
practically implement the idea may invite a broader debate. It needs more research and an idealogical
contribution to the proposal from different countries and if it would
successful two new common currencies could be introduced to the international
financial system before 2025.
When
the EU created it associated with politics and military blocks, this proposal
purely associates with currency stability and economic relations.
The
current backward economic environment the SARC countries must work together and
financial stability is vital for all members of the SARC. Since the first
decade of the 21st century, the cooperation SARC deteriorated on the
economic matter because these countries had problems in cooperation due to
political reasons.
The
office of the president in Sri Lanka needs to take policy initiatives to
stabilize the currency.
It is pathetic, some Sri Lankan’s are still pointing the finger at
China for causing this deadly virus. Did they point the finger at Spanish people
for Spanish Virus which killed 30 to 50 million people in 1918? Did they point
the finger at America for giving AIDS to foreign countries too?
I did not read the article written in the Wijeya News Paper. I read
only the open letter issued by the Chinese embassy, about the letter and I am
sure Chinese Embassy officials are not bluffing around.
From the time the CORONA VIRUS was discovered in the City of Wuhan in China, there have been many Face book posts and YouTube news, giving reasons why china got this deadly decease.
After the US, it was Sri Lankan’s who, ignorantly kept on blaming Chinese for this virus.
COVID 19 may have originated in the USA and few people may have died(old age, pneumonia), which actually could be due to Coronavirus.
Then it may have gone to Wuhan where after a few deaths Chinese scientist discovered the reason for deaths were the new Virus. Sri Lankans who were blaming China was not even scientist or doctors. Even a faith healer called Kumara gave many reasons for blaming Chinese eating habits. He should be able to heal all the Corona patients by waving his hand, visiting IDH. Sometime back on his you-tube saying that he is not allowed to come and heal the sick people in hospitals, where doctors have said they can’t heal. He appealed to the health authorities to give him a chance to show his colours, further his supporters said that the doctors are scared that he will heal these patients and prove doctors are useless.
The same healer in Sri Lanka, who replicate Sai Baba in India, tried to heal a child who is Gluten intolerant,, by his mental powers and then forced the child to eat bread landing the child in ICU.
I still believe that the Health department Authorities should give Mr. Digana Kumara Chance to heal those who are down with Covid19 and in isolation at IDH. Faith healing may work only for people who have faith in the healer and the child who was Gluten insolence did not have any faith, only his mother had the faith, which could not be communicated to the child.
AIDS Virus in the USA was discovered after the death of famous movie star Rod Hudson. He had slept with over 2000 men and women, having sexual intercourse, before he was down with the illness that the team’s doctors could not diagnose.
Many American’s must have died of Flu, Colds, heart and other viruses because their immune system was destroyed by HIV. HIV was discovered, because, Rod Hudson was a rich and famous man, people like Elizabeth Tailor kept on pushing the system to find how he died.
In the same period in Sydney, police found a dead body of a Teenage male prostitute in a River that depend on tides. The body was a blue and forensic scientists in Sydney could not find how he died. Only after the discovery of HIV, as a result of research for Rod Hudson’s death, the Police declared that the boy must have died of AIDS.
All these viruses are results of nature’s intervention(IN MY PERSONAL OPINION AND NO NEED TO BELIEVE) for some purpose. CORONA-VIRUS, according to a scientist, is evolved from the Flue virus, still can be counted as the work of nature.
The western world had the smallpox virus, killing many people from time to time. People on South American mountains, in remote places such as Peru, were never immune to many unknown viruses. Spanish conquerors went and gave them blankets infected with the smallpox virus, wiping out almost the entire Inca-Indian population. Spain was overcrowded at that time. They went and killed the locals and settled down in South America. Now they are destroying the world’s largest rain forest Amazon.
Nature prefers that you control your own population than looking for new lands to expand, killing the local people.
In 1918 Spanish flue came to control the world population, especially that of the West(Spain, Portugal, etc).
The deadliest Spanish Flue virus did not go away without taking about
50 million lives around the world and many Spaniards.
Concerning the COVID19, China, a country with so many Billions of people got it under control very well from the crowded city of Wuhan with a population of over 11 million living in one place. Beijing has over 11 million and Shanghai has over 22 million. What would have happened if the Virus went out of Wuhan to other cities? I think Sri Lanka, been a third world country, has done well to protect its people from this deadly virus.
A new category of
foreign investor…. What Sri Lanka can do….
The recent Covid19 Pandemic has devastated economies, lives and lifestyles worldwide. However, for Sri Lanka, it comes at a time when recovery from endless misfortunes affecting the financial strength of the country was barely turning around. This has struck another blow that we can all come together to help repair. There is a way if we explore an under-utilized resource for financial investment and for public relations that is sorely lacking.
It is important for the decision-makers in the country to seriously consider some possibilities for and meet the needs of the ex-pats if they are to harness their financial support. This requires using creative ways to meet the expectations of the ex-pats as customers, end-users, and investors, success is guaranteed. However, making systems and processes the way bureaucrats in Sri Lanka decided without input from the user end, there is, was and will be frustration as we have been approached in this regard before with hopeless results.
Savings accounts for expats that have the potential to create a different category of foreign investment. If laws need to be changed, if policies must be amended, parliament approval is needed, then, do it” is the need of the hour if the country is to benefit. This must be kept apolitical and should not be a thorn for political ambitions of opposition parties to become insecure and obstruct.
This should be well thought out for the sake of the country that belongs to all people first, regardless of their political loyalties. It should also be blended with checks and balances so that shady financial manipulations and abuse with ill-gotten funds for money laundering are avoided. This should be a category strictly with family financial investment in the country from expats living and using legitimately earned assets with proof of paying taxes as overseas residents.
To get to the point
direct, this is a time when the expatriate communities distributed worldwide with
financial prowess to respond to a cleverly designed win-win plan between Sri
Lanka and the expatriate community. The key to this is that it should be done
right.
At different times, we
had ideas bandied around. Attempts to entice investment in Sri Lanka were
brought before expats, but the design of the schemes and procedures had
absolutely no input from those who were going to be users. It had complicated
operations that lost interest. None of
their needs or questions were considered.
None of the programs proposed retained sustained interest of expats. There was frustration due to lack of thought
put into convenience, efficiency and above all, making investment attractive to
expats.
It is strongly advised that the recent call for expat remittances of savings to Sri Lanka must be put in place in consultation with the end-user and with input from the end-user who can determine the smooth operation they need to see and use with no bottlenecks. Feedback from systems used and failed must be considered for future improvement.
It must be considered
that earnings from foreign countries come with hard work and sustained efforts
in demanding jobs. No one in their right
mind should be expected to part with their financial security for Sri Lanka’s
economy without appropriate assurances of being able to access their funds when
needed because there is no safety net for expats except their own prudent
financial planning. The current NRFC makes that very difficult.
These are the considerations
that must be discussed with participants.
Eligibility to invest in Sri Lanka in Savings Accounts
Who will be eligible to invest? This must be cleared first because banks ask for National ID Cards (NIC) to open any account including NRFC. This eliminates many people who are four generations of Sri Lankans passed through since the NIC was introduced.
They may have investment potential but they don’t carry a Sri Lankan Passport and NIC. This card system was introduced in the 1970s and since then we are now into 3 plus generations of individuals of Sri Lankan Heritage who may not be born there so they are disqualified to meet the requirements asked for by banks. Are they all to be considered? If not, and Sri Lanka wishes to strictly permit only those who were born there, something to be considered is that about 3 generations following first-generation immigrants will be eliminated.
Will Sri Lankans with foreign passports with at least one parent or grandparent born in Sri Lanka be included? Will Sri Lankans born there but are foreign citizens with no immediate desire for dual citizenship be included? This can net in many high earning professionals educated overseas who are shut out not. The present system that requires NIC and Sri Lankan dual citizenship is an unnecessary deterrent that excludes rather than includes people of Sri Lankan Heritage. It is also a sure way to eliminate entire lines of immigrant families living overseas for generations to come.
The definition of eligibility must be clearly stated now as with each generation the ties to Sri Lanka seem to be disappearing. Each category should be thought through and clearly defined.
Will this be open to Foreign Citizens who want to invest in Sri Lanka too? If the interest rates are attractive, there will be interest for individual foreigners with small amounts to invest with a return that is better than rates offered in most developed countries.
This can be a category of foreign investment that is different from setting up manufacturing or partnerships for manufacturing, sales agencies and the rest. It will be an individual investor, foreign-born both foreign nationality and those of Sri Lankan Heritage, earning foreign currency with acquired foreign citizenship.
If this is permitted, the Sri Lankan line of heritage, dual citizenship, NIC requirement is null and void.
Following up on the above, it must be noted that in this article, written particularly with the ex-pats in the USA in mind, the rate of return for savings or money market accounts is less than 1%. The best-known return on savings accounts is American Express Savings that provide a higher yield of 1.6% which is considered a lot better than banks. This is where the Sri Lankan banks can offer rates that attract investors.
In addition to the above rates, there are some stipulations that require investors to meet conditions at the time of investment. Some require a minimum amount and stipulations that it cannot be withdrawn for a time period or a limited number of withdrawals of the return on the investment. There are minimum amounts required. If Sri Lanka has the flexibility to open savings accounts with a reasonable initial deposit, at a reasonably attractive rate of return, with the flexibility to add to the funds with an electronic transfer from time to time, then, the small investor may be more beneficial with a large volume of small investors influencing a favorable outcome. This will be less cumbersome than direct foreign investment projects that require more complicated processes.
All earnings in the USA including contributory pensions of retirees in the form of social security and income from savings made for retirement are taxable. Sri Lankan investments must be declared to the US Internal Revenue but there is no double taxation. Provision must be made by Sri Lanka for interest earned on expat investments to be available to the account holder to some extent that can be determined by authorities in Sri Lanka. These are to be treated as emergency funds if it attracts small and large investors.
How the existing remittances to Sri Lanka can be structured for the benefit of the country.
Expatriate families continue to remit funds to families, charities and other needs. This goes on generation after generation and those who have been further from their roots and do not have remittance commitments can be turned around to be interested in investing in Sri Lanka if the rates of return are attractive, and flexibility on how they use the returns can be made easy and accessible.
Previous programs and the failure of their benefit to expats resulted in the loss of interest in participation. The Central Bank had a panel of experts visiting expats in the US with a plan to encourage investment. Some of us who took advantage of the opportunity was completely disappointed in the procedures and the lack of organization and the difficulty in accessing records on investments.
NRFC is another scheme currently available and there is nothing attractive and convenient in this operation that frustrates expats from investing. There is an attractive interest rate paid on foreign deposits and in my personal experience with US$ it looked attractive. However, when needed the funds that are saved for an emergency were not easily available. The cumbersome procedure made it difficult to have access to one’s own funds. It must be remembered that most immigrants maintain their savings as an emergency fund and will need assurances that they can have access to in the event of need. Without such an assurance, coupled with a convenient procedure for fast transfer, there will be minimal interest in participation.
Even in withdrawing funds, in the current set up one must write a signed letter for a request for using funds and email a scanned copy to the bank, follow up with a phone call to authenticate instructions as per the signed scanned electronic communication. This is inconvenient because the international time difference takes too much out of the customer/account holder to have to stay awake late into the night to match working hours for phone calls. A system to seamlessly authenticate the security aspects to connect to the banking of the individual investor with the Sri Lanka investment is the approach that the user end will expect.
The banks that have provided for online banking including NRFC accounts have the authority to lock passwords if it is not used for a long period. This should have been assumed initially as expats living outside Sri Lanka will not be accessing their NRFC accounts as frequently as their regular online accounts in their country of residence.
When the password expires, it is necessary to download a form and request a reset of the password. All this takes copious amounts of time in days and the delays. Foreign residents also encounter time differences and telephone contact with banks in Sri Lanka does not have technical support after banking hours. This adds many layers of frustration to the user. The result is that the desired benefit for the country and the user become a useless exercise full of frustration and fear that one’s savings are inaccessible. Savings will serve no purpose for emergencies if the procedures are cumbersome and need several days.
Efficiency, easy access, online access with security that provides access to the end user and additional nontechnology customer support must be provided side by side in the absence of face to face interaction for those who are not tech-savvy.
Systems that appeal to investors and independent operation of their accounts.
Applying the systems found in the USA should be studied as a benchmark for advanced technology applications that can provide security, convenience, and independence to users. An important aspect is to be linked to banks in Sri Lanka. It is frustrating for an expat to use technology to have to go through layers of bureaucracy to change or reinstate a password. This is a service that should be available to the minority who may need help. With appropriate verification, the provision to independently make changes should be provided to the account holder.
In the event expat investment is provided, there should be a 24/7 technical and other customer support at the end of a phone line due to the global time zones. In service calls made for companies like Dell Computers, certain banks, and even American Express credit cards and savings account to mention a few among others in the USA, the call centers are overseas but regardless of the time difference, they are staffed by support staff from anywhere at any time.
Banks can have a central call center that services all the banks or have individual call center support with technology that can be operated using the work at home customer service” which is a trend.
Ongoing transfers will be encouraged if the end-user has the independence to operate funds in either direction.
Concessions that should be granted to investors and encourage retirees with foreign currency pensions
If Sri Lanka benefits from foreign currency deposits from overseas, a reciprocal advantage must be provided to the expats for their commitment to the country.
In the era of baby boomers retiring in large numbers and a shift in the demographics, attracting foreign currency earning pensioners/retirees to return to Sri Lanka will be a bonanza. Such returnees should be provided a special category of dual citizenship to overcome the 6 month limit on their stay on foreign passports. Unless there is an incentive, it will not be attractive to retirees.
Another perk that will be appreciated will be a fast track dual citizenship privilege that could be a fee waiver for working expats for making deposits over the fees charged. This can be by choice if it is not a requirement for investing. If it is a requirement for investments, the expats will not always want to jump hoops for dual citizenship for not so convenient access to their funds.
Recognition with a document of appreciation from the President will go a long way as expats are hardly ever appreciated for the work they do on behalf of the country. Politically prominent folks fail to even show interest to know what expats do for the country. In the case of the public relations arm on behalf of Sri Lanka, there is little in the form of formal representation and it is undertaken by expats who are not even considered for a simple thank you” by the powerful who visit. It is a joke among expats that those who take on voluntary roles do not even receive a handshake.
Provision to open separate savings accounts for minor children as a part of their future education fund earning higher interest than that offered in the USA will be another attractive benefit. Such accounts should be locked with timelines because of the convenience for future foreign studies of children from Sri Lanka.
The USA has a program called the 529 savings program for the education of a minor. Parents are given tax breaks for what they put aside for children’s education but are not entitled to use it for any other purpose. Such funds can be invested in the stock market but due to volatility, competing with Sri Lankan offers that are more stable savings will be preferred as an alternative. Expats who save for their children’s higher education will be a segment that can be a part of such a program that can also benefit the Sri Lankan economy
If the Government of Sri Lanka works with a few expatriates taking note of their needs and formulates s a project to encourage some of the ideas expressed, a face to face meeting with people of authority who can get feedback for improvement and decide first hand, the outcome will certainly benefit Sri Lanka. The involvement of expat feedback to improve can be an insightful use of the underutilized expatriate communities both for financial and intellectual support to benefit the country that has given a foundation to many.
Anjalika Silva
USA
Note about the author: A resident of the USA for 35 years with experience in scientific, nonprofit and corporate environments. Insight comes from driving professional programs and infrastructure development for start-up biotech companies in the areas of Human Resources and Benefits programs for employees which included retirement plans for employees, healthcare and employee benefits. With experience and training that compliments undergraduate studies in Sri Lanka and graduate education in Technology Management in the USA, this article is written with firsthand experience in developing successful systems, policies and operational processes, managing feedback and increasing efficiency in many areas of management in the USA using a background of Bioscience, Technology, Management, writing and editing including technical writing for the web publishing online documents and manuals for use of technology across global lines. Although unknown in Sri Lanka, these contributions have been acknowledged in US institutions that demand high standards.
Anyone with connections, please share these ideas with President Gotabaya Rajapakse, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and any other leaders who can drive this underutilized resource in a direction to benefit the country. Permission is granted to do so. Anjalika Silva – Gaithersburg, MD. USA
It is sad to note that attempts are being made by Hakeem and Mujibur Rehman to overcome their political desolation by instigating the Muslims over-performing funerals of some corona infected Muslims. These so-called Muslim lovers who remained totally silent when Rodee Ranawaka and his companions Ratana and Gnanasara theros (saffron-robed thugs) instigated riots against Muslims at Gintota, Ampara. Digana, Akurana, Gampola and Katugastota, and youth were burnt to death at Digana as they felt protecting the then government was more important than speaking against the atrocities of the rioters.
The sole objectives of the above referenced two irresponsible miscreants are to instigate hatred between the Sinhala and Muslim communities for their political advantage. Out of the Corona, patients died so far there were two Muslims one from Negombo named Abdel Jalil and the other from Maradana. Health authorities who are very much concerned about curbing the spread of disease, by all means, has not granted permission to bury Abdel Jalil in Negombo due to water table in the area was high and which could spread the virus seeping through the water in the area. Although two family members are permitted to attend a funeral in this instance none of them attended. In the case of the Maradana patient’s death, the administrators of the Jawatte Mosque had dug a grave for 9 meters deep for his burial but the people of the area including the majority of Muslims in the nearby Hetewatte have protested against burying him there and since the body cannot be kept for a long time the health authorities have taken it to Kotikawatte. The government subsequently issued a gazette notification permitting to hold the funerals of the coronavirus deceased personnel on the wishes of the relevant family members.
As per a directive issued by the WHO the virus affected deceased patients should either be buried or cremated in accordance with their family desires. The WHO guidelines make provision for burial besides cremation. It says, Burial is the preferred method of body disposal in emergency situations unless there are cultural and religious observations that prohibit it. The location of graveyards should be agreed with the community and attention should be given to ground conditions, as regards proximity to groundwater drinking sources, The U.A.E. Ambassador in Colombo has said that in U.A.E. a separate area has been earmarked in Sharjah for the burial of the corona victims. Similarly in Sri Lanka too Muslim religious leaders could meet and decide a location in Colombo without allowing the political miscreants to create friction with the other communities.
The Organization of Islamic religious leaders the Jameeathul Ulema has issued a religious directive pertaining to the burial of a Muslim deceased as a result of contracting this deadly virus. Relevant extracts from the directive are reproduced below:
It is a compulsory act coming under Farl Kifaya (compulsory responsibility) for Muslims when a death occurs to wash the body, cover the body with a white cloth and bury it. Farl Kifaya is a responsibility of all Muslims but if it was performed by some of the others become excluded from the responsibility/. However, if it was not performed by anyone, everyone becomes guilty of not performing it.
Similarly having the body washed before performing the funeral prayer is compulsory. It becomes impossible to wash the body if someone dies by drowning, or by entrapped in a fallen building, or when the body is not found. There are different schools of opinion about the funeral prayer for them should be performed or not. The majority opinion is that the funeral prayer is not compulsory in such instances.
The purpose of the funeral prayer is to supplicate for the expiation of the sins that may have been committed by the diseased. The scholars point out that if certain things could not be performed in a situation like this whatever that can be performed should not be avoided.
The directive which has been issued in Sinhala
further states that that the government has also issued a statement about
performing last rights of someone died of Corona Virus and accordingly if the
dead body is to be buried the grave should be at least 6 ft, deep and the
burial should be performed in the presence of government authorities and only a
few close relatives should attend the funeral.
The directive
has been issued by the Secretary of the Fatwa Section (Religious Directive
Section), As Shaikh M.L.M.Ilyas of the All Island Islamic Scholars Council (All
island Jaamiathul Ulema).
Many Muslims and leading Sinhala civil organizations have called upon the people not to get mislead by attempts being made by the miscreants to espouse communal tension over this virus issue. The Governor the Northwestern Province Mr. A.J.M.Muzammil has issued a message requesting the Muslims not to provide room for racist extremists to spread communal hatred and has asked to act in a responsible manner to respect law and order in the country. He has said that it is very important for Muslims to extend their fullest cooperation to the government at this moment when it is taking all measures to contain and curb the spread of this deadly pandemonium. He has also requested the Muslims to cooperate with curfew regulations and strictly follow the directions given by health authorities.
Mr. Gevindu Kumaratunga, the Head of the Yuthukama Organisation, who is the son of the well-known educationist Munidasa Kumaratunga has also issued a message asking the Muslims not to get mislead by racist extremist miscreants and requested them to join hands with other communities in a national spirit to overcome the current pandemic situation causing equal hardships to people of all communities and rise up as a great nation once again.
It has been pointed out that Prophet Muhammad has admonished that when there is a plague somewhere the people of that area should not leave from that area and people from outside should also not enter the plague affected area until the situation becomes normal. This Admonition of the Holy Prophet should be widely communicated to the Muslims by the administrators of the mosque in all towns and villages.
The head of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Council Mrs. Deepika Udagama has warned against attempting to create communal tension among communities over the funeral of the deceased Corona infected patients and has advised that health authorities should get the consent of the family members of the deceased persons whether they want the bodies to be buried or cremated.
The malicious miscreants Hakeem and Mujibur Rehman have no moral right to speak about the Muslims as they have gone into records of violating Islamic ethics and performing things contradictory to the teachings of Islam. The plot of these two miscreants to espouse Muslims against the government and gain political mileage out of it, got shattered on Thursday (9th April) when the funeral of the 7th person died of Corona Virus, the gem merchant of Mt. Lavinia was allowed to be cremated by his family and the said cremation took place with the participation of his family members. At the same time, the former UPFA member for Vavuniya, Mr. Cader Masthann, his brother and his two bodyguards are reported to be in self-quarantine for 21 days in Vavuniya after participating in a funeral function held at Tamarapuram in Vavuniya in which a Corona positive patient has also participated. The self-quarantine measure taken by Mr. Masthan should be commended as it would encourage many to take similar precautions.
Also, it should be noted that Buddhist devotees who flock to Temples throughout the country on Poya days did not visit Temples on April 8th on the Bak Fullmoon Poya day although it was a very significant Poya Day in which Lord Buddha has visited Sri Lanka (one of his three visits) to diffuse the possible war situation that had prevailed between Chulodara and Mahodara. In addition to this for the first time in history the the auspicious timesheet” known as Avurudhu Charitra Seetuwa” which is presented to the ruler of the country each year has not been carried out this year. It is reported that all Sinhala New Year events this year have been suspended and they will celebrate the New Year with only their family members at their residences Also it is said that if the Corona Virus situation continues there will be no Wesak Pandals, Dansals and other Wesak activities this year.
In the case of Christians they were unable to observe the Maundy Thursday which signifies the day before the Good Friday in which the Jesus Christ had the last supper with his apostles and in which the Judas betrayed Jesus Christ to the Roman rulers, They were also unable to observe Good Friday prayers in the Churches. The Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ following his arrest by Roman soldiers guided by Judas Iscariot at the garden of Gethsemane for 30 pieces of Silver. They will also not be able to perform Church services on Easter Sunday as well although this Easter Sunday signifies the first anniversary of brutal attacks carried out by Zaharan and his inhuman terrorist gang in which over 300 persons were killed and more than 500 were injured.
Hakeem and Mujibur Rehman should feel ashamed of trying to espouse communal hatred for their political advantage when all communities are making enormous sacrifices to curb the spread of the Coronavirus and save this country to usher in a better future for the future generations. To be continued…………
The TV news item today was
about Sri Lankan specialist doctors undergoing training in the UK desperately
want to return home. It is quite strange that they all want to come back when
only a small percentage of the doctors return after going abroad.
Some specialists trained in a
lucrative specialty return to join the private sector while hardly discharging
their duties in the state hospitals where they are assigned to.
It is obvious why these doctors
want to return al of a sudden Surely because they are
not safe in England and do not trust NHS in the UK
One consultant has already
died
I wonder what GMOA is going to
say about this.
Received your article Please note by comment
Hi Sarath
Nice to hear from you. SL doctors here on training are in
the age group almost safe from Coronavirus. My daughter was exposed to 3
patients with Coronavirus in her Plastic Surgery ward before they were tested
and isolated. One of the patients from ICU came with the infection.
My daughter was off sick afterward with cough and cold, possibly with a mild attack of Coronavirus, for 2 weeks. She is perfectly ok now. NHS is not testing her – hopefully, they will test her when she returns to work.
Sarath – look at my FB post on Coronavirus, especially the last sentence.
Prof Devi Sridhar, in the link below, suggests four scenarios of how the Coronavirus end might be achieved.
Scenario 1 – as she says, it is highly unrealistic
Scenario 2 – wait for the vaccine and delay the spread over the next 12 – 18 months
Scenario 3 – follow South Korea’s example whilst waiting for
a vaccine
Scenario 4 – treat COVID symptoms rather than the cause. This approach is feasible in Countries with resources but not for poor countries.
So what scenario for the UK? My perception is that it is Scenario 4, OR putting it crudely HERD IMMUNITY. It will finish off, older people like me and others with pre-existing conditions, and once the herd immunity is achieved remaining population will be healthy and less of a burden on NHS and social services. Tories would be happy.
In view of the above, it looks like my life would be at my house for the next 12 to 18 months.
After conquering the Kandyan kingdom British established a regime where body tax, property tax, etc were implemented and there was no income tax. British police with Sri Lankan supporters of various Arrachchis’ has ruled the masses with a strict regime.
The country was ruled with an iron fist and people had to work for the rulers.
They siphoned our the revenue and yet built some infrastructure like road-rail lines and they also built their underground rail network in London
They had also an establishment code.
We got independency and partial democracy initiated by the British was made to a full democracy under DS.
Then SWRD based his rule on Nationalism and created Tamil
Sinhala rift.
Sirimawo went further and tried to bring socialism coupled with quasi communism. She nationalized all most privately owned industries and plantations and further brought Russian funded industries
It did not work and JR opened the economy and a dictatorship
with a touch of. democracy was established
It worked to a certain extent but corruption and indiscipline prevailed
RP further strengthen one-man rule concept with a somewhat iron fist
He quelled JVP insurrection like MR getting rid of the danger from LTTE and GR now trying to control Corona spread.
Then MR came who followed the same method but one – family rule was installed with an allegation of mishandling finances and haphazard borrowing and nepotism’
After MS and RW took over the country stayed standstill except that some changes were made to show that one-man show is somewhat diluted
But it backfired
Now we have GR who is supposed to be a tough ruler who had to chose which path to take.
Corona issue had given him a good chance of putting various methods of ruling and crowd control into practice similar to Communist rule.
Making people obey strict rules and socialistic methods to distribute food etc to the poor is put into practice.
At the same time provincial politicians also make money like under communism, where communist party provincial leaders were pilfering national wealth and abusing power.
Strict rules on selling liquor are implanted like in the Middle East and it is working Rule- breakers are punished with no hesitation sometimes with long bamboo sticks like India.
It looks to me that the learning curve is taking place during the last month and it. had given a good chance for GR to decide what type is administration he should have to take the country further.
It is up to the people to judge, but my opinion is that administering country using law enforcement and the military is the best for our country
Let the name give by JR Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka remains for namesake.
Dr. Sarath Obeysekera CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard Colombo Sri Lanka
Sarah Boseley Health editor Courtesy The Guardian (UK)
New quarantine and social distancing ‘suppression’ measures are based on modelling by Imperial College
A week is a long time in a coronavirus pandemic. Within days of Boris Johnson and his advisers announcing that anyone with symptoms of a cold should stay at home for seven days but otherwise live life as normal, the prime minister came out with a series of bombshells that will effectively confine most of the population to their homes.
What changed was new data on the impact of Italy’s out-of-control epidemic on its health service. Basically, it is catastrophic, with 30% of hospitalised patients having to be admitted to intensive care. The teams of modellers at Imperial College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who advise government crunched those numbers – and the death toll and pressure on the NHS that came out were unacceptable.
Prof Neil Ferguson at Imperial College’s MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and colleagues found that the mitigation strategy, as they called it – or scenario 1 – that the government had just announced would lead to 260,000 deaths. That would be not just deaths from the virus, but from other illnesses that the NHS would be too hard-pressed to treat.
• isolating people with a cough and temperature at home for seven days.
quarantining families where somebody has symptoms for 14 days, to allow time for any symptoms in the others to show.
• social distancing, involving cutting the normal contacts people make at home, school or work by three-quarters.
• social distancing for everyone over 70, by asking them to stay at home.
• closure of schools and universities.
Last week’s mitigation strategy was about people staying home for seven days with symptoms. It was said that quarantine for families plus keeping the over-70s at home would probably follow. That package would reduce peak healthcare demand by two-thirds and cut deaths by half. But, the researchers said, the resulting epidemic would still likely result in 260,000 deaths and therefore overwhelm the health system (most notably intensive care units)”.
So now we have scenario 2, which the modellers call suppression. It takes things much further, adopting all the measures except closing schools and universities. And school closures, said Ferguson, are probably also on the cards before too long.Advertisement
Ferguson and his colleague Prof Azra Ghani liken the new measures to China’s actions, which succeeded in driving down the epidemic to very low numbers. But unlike in China, anything that happens in the UK will be voluntary. The government will need population buy-in for this to work.
The bad news is that although it will keep death rates down to 20,000 or possibly just a few thousand, said Ferguson, we are looking at these social curbs through to July or August – and even when the brakes are taken off, they may have to be slammed back on again. The virus will not have disappeared and could resurge. Only a small proportion of the population will have been infected, recovered and become immune.
The government’s earlier hopes that it could rely on large proportions – maybe 60% – of the population getting ill, getting better and becoming immune to build up some herd immunity in the UK population – something many experts thought was dangerous – are dashed by the new strategy.
Herd immunity is normally created by vaccinating large numbers of children, safeguarding those who cannot be inoculated. Nobody has ever tried to do that by allowing infection with a disease before – and now, it appears to have been recognised that it’s not safe to try.
In the absence of federal direction, states and America’s top experts forge the path ahead.
A national plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and return Americans to jobs and classrooms is emerging — but not from the White House.
Instead, a collection of governors, former government officials, disease specialists and nonprofits are pursuing a strategy that relies on the three pillars of disease control: Ramp up testing to identify people who are infected. Find everyone they interact with by deploying contact tracing on a scale America has never attempted before. And focus restrictions more narrowly on the infected and their contacts so the rest of society doesn’t have to stay in permanent lockdown.
But there is no evidence yet the White House will pursue such a strategy.
Instead, the president and his top advisers have fixated almost exclusively on plans to reopen the U.S. economy by the end of the month, though they haven’t detailed how they will do so without triggering another outbreak. President Trump has been especially focused on creating a second coronavirus task force aimed at combating the economic ramifications of the virus.
Administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations, say the White House has made a deliberate political calculation that it will better serve Trump’s interest to put the onus on governors — rather than the federal government — to figure out how to move ahead.
It’s mind-boggling, actually, the degree of disorganization,” said Tom Frieden, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director. The federal government has already squandered February and March, he noted, committing epic failures” on testing kits, ventilator supply, protective equipment for health workers and contradictory public health communication. The next failure is already on its way, Frieden said, because we’re not doing the things we need to be doing in April.”
At a White House briefing Friday, Trump said he will announce next week the members of his second coronavirus task force, charged with determining when and how to reopen the country. He stressed his desire to get the economy running again as soon as possible but wouldn’t commit to specifics, saying, The facts are going to determine what I do. But we do want to get the country open. So important.”AD
In recent days, dozens of leading voices have coalesced around the test-trace-quarantine framework, including former FDA commissioners for the Trump and George W. Bush administrations, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and top experts at Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Harvard universities.
On Wednesday, former president Barack Obama weighed in, tweeting, Social distancing bends the curve and relieves some pressure … But in order to shift off current policies, the key will be a robust system of testing and monitoring — something we have yet to put in place nationwide.”
And Friday, Apple and Google unveiled a joint effort on new tools that would use smartphones to aid in contact tracing.
What remains unclear is whether this emerging plan can succeed without the backing of the federal government. Some states such as Massachusetts and Utah are already trying to implement parts of it. In the absence of federal leadership — as happened last month with stay-at-home orders — other states may watch and follow suit. But without substantial federal funding, states’ efforts will only go so far.AD
In South Korea, Taiwan, China and Singapore, variations on this basic strategy were implemented by their national governments, allowing them to keep the virus in check even as they reopened parts of their economy and society.
In America, testing — while still woefully behind — is ramping up. And households across the country have learned over the past month how to quarantine. But when it comes to the second pillar of the plan — the labor-intensive work of contact tracing — local health departments lack the necessary staff, money and training.
Experts and leaders in some states say remedying that weakness should be a priority and health departments should be rapidly shored up so that they are ready to act in coming weeks as infections nationwide begin to decrease. In a report released Friday, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials — which represents state health departments — estimate 100,000 additional contact tracers are needed and call for $3.6 billion in emergency funding from Congress.AD
The CDC is researching how to increase contact tracing capacity, its director, Robert Redfield, said Friday in an NPR interview.
We can’t afford to have multiple community outbreaks that can spiral up into sustained community transmission,” he said in the interview.
We have over 600 people in the field right now from CDC in all the states trying to help with this response, but we are going to have to substantially amplify that,” he said.
But those efforts have not been reviewed by the White House, and the disease agency’s role has been diminished in the administration’s pandemic response. We’re definitely in the middle of all of that. It’s premature for me to roll it out,” Redfield said.
Technology, like the Apple-Google partnership, that could aid that effort is also being developed, but it comes with civil liberty concerns that need to be resolved.AD
Unless states can aggressively trace and isolate the virus, experts say, there will be new outbreaks and another round of disruptive stay-at-home orders.
All people are talking about right now is hospital beds, ventilators, testing, testing, testing. Yes, those are important, but they are all reactive. You are dealing with the symptoms and not the virus itself,” said Tolbert Nyenswah, who led one of the most successful contact tracing efforts in Africa during the 2014 to 2016 Ebola epidemic. You will never beat a virus like this one unless you get ahead of it. America must not just flatten the curve but get ahead of the curve.”
Creating an army
Women are released from an Ebola treatment unit in 2014 and greeted by family members in Monrovia, Liberia. The Ebola epidemic prompted the government to create an army of contact tracers to beat back the disease. (Michel du Cille/The Washington Post)
Six years ago, Nyenswah watched an even deadlier disease, Ebola, tear through his homeland. Liberia’s president tapped him to lead its response, and Nyenswah began immediately hiring an army of surveillance officers to do shoe-leather” tracing. It involved going door to door to find anyone who interacted with someone with a confirmed case of the hemorrhagic disease and persuading them to stay indoors, even providing food and services to make that more likely.AD
Testing on its own is useless, Nyenswah explained, because it only tells you who already has the virus. Similarly, tracing alone is useless if you don’t place those you find into quarantine. But when all three are implemented, the chain of transmission can be shattered.
Until a vaccine or treatment is developed, such nonpharmaceutical interventions are the only tools countries can rely on — besides locking down their cities.
In 2014, Nyenswah’s army of 4,000 public health workers used tracing to eradicate Ebola in Liberia under even more difficult circumstances. Many homes didn’t have phone lines, much less house numbers, street names or Zip codes to navigate by.
We didn’t have the sophisticated systems you have in the U.S.,” Nyenswah said. Many of the people we dealt with weren’t even literate, but we were able to win. What that tells you is that this can work.”AD
But to expand that in a country as large as the United States will require a massive dose of money, leadership and political will.
Nyenswah, who now lives in the United States and teaches at Johns Hopkins, has watched the disjointed U.S. response on TV with growing alarm.
You cannot have leaders contradicting each other every day. You cannot have states waiting on the federal government to act, and government telling the states to figure it out on their own,” he said. You need a plan.”
Daunting math of transmission
When Vermont’s first coronavirus case was detected last month, it took two state health workers a day to track down 13 people who came into contact with that single patient. They put them under quarantine and started monitoring for symptoms. No one else became sick.
It was a tidy bow,” recalled Daniel Daltry, one of the two health officers who did the work.AD
Within days, new cases were coming in like dominoes,” Daltry said. By late March, his team was racing on a single day to trace the contacts of 12 patients, when an additional 30 cases landed on their desk.
He did the math: If each of those 30 patients had contact with even three people, that meant 90 people his crew would have to locate and get into quarantine. In other words, impossible.
This is the daunting math facing health departments nationwide. Since 2008, city and county health agencies have lost almost a quarter of their overall workforce. Decades of budget cutshave left the them unable to mount such a response. State health departments have recently had to lay off thousands more — an unintended consequence of federal officials delaying tax filings until July without warning states. Those tax filings generate state revenue.
In Wuhan, a city of 11 million, the Chinese had 9,000 health workers doing contact tracing, said Frieden, the former CDC director. He estimates authorities would need roughly one contact tracer for every four cases in the United States.
Such large-scale tracing nationally could be possible if federal funding and guidance bolstered counties at the same time social distancing lowers the number of cases.
We could use a stronger voice out of the White House to mobilize this nation,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said Thursday.
In the second wave, we have to have testing, a resource base, and a contact-tracing base that is so much more scaled up than right now,” he said. It’s an enormous challenge.”
Not waiting to act
Employees at a San Diego retirement community hold a daily pep rally to boost the spirits of quarantined residents. (Gregory Bull/AP)
In the absence of federal direction, Massachusetts last week unveiled a plan to begin building a contact tracing army.
Gov. Charlie Baker (R) partnered with an international nonprofit group based in Boston that has been waging this kind of public health campaign against contagious diseases including tuberculosis in Africa and HIV and cholera in Haiti. The nonprofit Partners in Health quickly put together a plan to hire and train 1,000 contact tracers. Working from their homes making 20 to 30 calls a day, they could cover up to 20,000 contacts a day.
The group is paying new hires roughly the same salary as census takers, more than $20 an hour. As of Tuesday — just four days after the initial announcement — the group had received 7,000 applicants and hired 150.
People want to help. They’re tired of just sitting at home and waiting to be infected,” said KJ Seung, strategy and policy chief for the nonprofit’s covid response. There’s a huge untapped resource of people in America if we would just ask.”
Utah has also taken action, reassigning government employees to increase contact tracing capacity, said state health department spokesman Tom Hudachko. State leaders are trying to pull together 1,200 more workers. San Francisco is trying to build a 150-person contact tracing team using city librarians, university staff and medical students.
There needs to be a crash course in contact tracing because a lot of the health departments where this is going to need to happen are already kind of flat-out just trying to respond to the crisis at hand,” said Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Experts have proposed transforming the Peace Corps — which suspended global operations last month and recalled 7,000 volunteers to America — into a national response corps that could perform many tasks, including contact tracing.
On Wednesday, the editor in chief of JAMA, a leading medical journal, proposed suspending the first year of training for America’s 20,000 incoming medical students and deploying them as a medical corps to support the test, trace, track, and quarantine strategy.”
Health workers who have been doing this kind of contact tracing for sexually transmitted diseases have proposed expanding an existing group of national disease investigation specialists — about 1,600 workers funded by the CDC and focused on ailments such as rectal gonorrhea — into a ready-made coronavirus tracing battalion. Thenational organization for local STD programs says $200 million could add roughly 1,850 specialists, more than doubling that current workforce.
There’s an app for that
Commuters wearing masks in Singapore, where authorities have used digital tools to combat the coronavirus. (Catherine Lai/AFP)
Technology could also turn out to be pivotal. But the invasive nature of cellphone tracking and apps raises concerns about civil liberties.
Such technology could take over some of what contact tracers do in interviews: build a contact history for each confirmed patient and find those possibly exposed. Doing that digitally could speed up the process — critical in containing an outbreak — and less laborious.
Singaporean police, for example, used security camera footage and ATM and credit card records to retrace people’s steps during the coronavirus outbreak there.
In China, authorities combined the nation’s vast surveillance apparatus with apps and cellphone data to track people’s movements. If someone they came across is later confirmed as infected, an app alerts them to stay at home.
South Korea and Israel have similarly deployed apps and cellphone technology. In Taiwan, authorities have even placed virtual fences around those quarantined at home, alerting authorities if quarantined residents try to leave their homes or turn off their phone.
In the United States, about 20 technology companies are trying to create a contact tracing app using geolocation data or Bluetooth pings on cellphones, said Dylan George, a former senior Obama administration policy adviser now advising one such effort.
The Seattle-King County health agency is in very early discussions” with one group about using such contact tracing technology, said Jeffrey Duchin, a top city-county health official. Duchin said he would welcome any way to speed up the contact tracing work of his team, but noted, We have no real experience with them and can’t predict how well they will work.”
These apps don’t solve the problem on their own, but they can definitely help as force multipliers,” said Crystal Watson, a public health expert who helped draft Johns Hopkins’ Friday report on contact tracing. The problem is they come with huge civil liberties caveats that still need to be sorted out.”
Juliet Eilperin and John Sullivan contributed to this report.
In April last year, he erroneously wrote that ‘138 million people’ instead of 138 were killed in a string of blasts in Sri Lanka
US President Donald Trump was at his blooper best when he mistook Good Friday for Easter and wished the world “Happy Good Friday”, triggering an avalanche of criticism from Twitterati who tore into him for his embarrassing gaffe.
Good Friday refers to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is a day of mourning for Christians around the world. Easter, on Sunday, marks the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The good in Good Friday refers to the day being holy.
Trump took to Twitter on Friday and wrote: “HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY TO ALL”.
The tweet did not go down well as many people slammed the US President for his basic lack of knowledge.
“Just another evidence you know absolutely NOTHING about Christianity. There’s nothing happy about Good Friday. Wait for Easter Sunday,” said one of his followers.
“This is a solemn day for Christians. It’s not called Happy Friday. Like not knowing what the significance of Pearl Harbor was, I’d suggest the President doesn’t know what happened on Good Friday according to the scriptures,” wrote another.
“Uhm if you ever walked into an actual church, you’d know today is one of the most somber days in the church year. You can’t even get Christianity right,” tweeted another.
However, at his daily White House news conference on coronavirus, Trump on Friday, while giving an an update on the war against coronavirus, told reporters that millions of Christians celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Christ.
“Thank you very much everybody, and good afternoon. Today is Good Friday. And this Sunday, millions of Christians celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“At this holy time, we pray that God will heal the sick and comfort the heartbroken and bless our heroes. As American families look forward to Easter, we’re reminded that our story ends not in despair, but in triumph and renewal. Very appropriate, isn’t it?” he said.
President Trump is known for his gaffes. In April last year, he erroneously wrote that “138 million people” instead of 138 were killed in a string of blasts in Sri Lanka.
Trump is known for for using embarrassing nicknames as well as ‘mispronouncing names’ of people such as “Jeff Bozo” in reference to Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
In March last year, he mistakenly referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook as “Tim Apple”, a verbal slip which netizens poked fun at by sharing rib-tickling memes on social media.
Before that, he had called Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson “Marillyn Lockheed.
