{"id":100466,"date":"2020-03-28T17:40:39","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T00:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=100466"},"modified":"2020-03-29T15:24:46","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T22:24:46","slug":"need-to-maintain-the-24-hour-island-wide-curfew-for-some-more-time-caring-for-the-curfew-affected-population-is-equally-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/28\/need-to-maintain-the-24-hour-island-wide-curfew-for-some-more-time-caring-for-the-curfew-affected-population-is-equally-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Need to maintain the 24 Hour, island-wide Curfew for some more time; caring for the curfew affected population is equally important"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The government should be commended for\nimposing a 24 hour, island-wide curfew. It was a brave decision.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka is possibly the first country in\nthe world to impose a 24 hour, island-wide curfew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are also one of the first countries in\nthe world to shut down schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many countries have followed our successful\nexamples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoidance of close contact between peoples\nis the best way to stop the\nspreading of the deadly virus. In 3rd<\/sup> world countries, where people\nare less educated\/disciplined, a blanket nation-wide (24 hour) curfew is the best\nway to achieve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka did\nanother thing right, which is closing down its national airports and sea entries.\nThis means even Sri Lankan nationals living overseas are prevented from entering\nthe country. This is another bold step that the government undertook, as other\ncountries have allowed their citizens to enter through the borders subject to\nstrict conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, Sri Lanka did this (closing the airports) only\nafter learning a bitter lesson. Previously it allowed all its citizens to\nreturn to Sri Lanka with the condition that they undergo a mandatory 14 day\nquarantine period. Unscrupulous Sri Lankans who are suspected of having Corona,\nreturned to the country (especially from Italy and Chennai) and botched the mandatory\nquarantine regime. Some fled and hid in various parts of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a major drawback in our fight against\nCorona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of them were later diagnosed with having\nCorona. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, thanks to them, we\ninherited Corona.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our numbers are now growing steadily. As of 9 pm on 28 March\n2020, we  have 113 Corona cases in the country, with 1 dead. We have reached this number within 15 days.  It is remarkable that we have done\nbetter than Spain and USA who recorded only 84 and 75 cases respectively\nduring their first 15 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sri\nLanka we have no\/very few Corona testings being done.  Advanced economies like US, UK and Australia\ntest many thousands of people daily.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus,\nour actual number of Corona patients could be much higher than the statistics\nat hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no\ndoubt that in the coming weeks Sri Lanka\u2019s Corona  numbers, including fatalities, will significantly\nincrease. Though the writer hopes he is wrong, it is impossible to think\notherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nshould request friendly governments to supply us with relevant equipment, so\nthat we could better face with the impending calamity. The country is desperately\nin need of face masks, surgical glows\/gowns\/equipment, various medicines,\nrespirators, ventilators etc to fight the war against this \u2018invisible enemy\u2019.\nWe must have many new intensive care beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nimportant that the government formally establishes a national \u2018Corona Care Fund\u2019,\nso that those who can afford both locally and internationally could contribute.\nOnly people well accepted in the community as honest, with high integrity, must\nbe appointed as Trustees of the Fund to manage it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngovernment is stressing the people to stay at home and maintain a minimum of a\nmeter distance between them.  The curfew\nis strictly enforced. These are all very positive things. In print\/electronic\nmedia, there is ongoing education programs on how to face the Corona epidemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, the\ngovernment must be commended for these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the\ngovernment must realise that while satisfactorily fighting the deadly disease,\nit must do everything possible to look after the essential needs of the people.\nThe government\u2019s record in looking after\/caring for them thus far, especially\nthe most disadvantaged members of our community, is  far from satisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority\nof the people in the country are poor and many have no money to buy food. Many\nare subsistent workers and they have lost their jobs. So, even if the shops are\nopen, they may not have money to buy food\/provisions. There are reports that\npeople in some areas are starving due to lack of food. The writer is unaware of\nthe authenticity of these stories but believes that the situation is serious.\nThe government must not be complacent on this most important subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If people are\nstarving\/do not have money to buy food\/provisions, these could easily lead to\nother problems like civil unrest. This is also a reason why the government must\ntake urgent action now (prevention is better than cure).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The irony is\nthat there are people with vested interests who would love to see people\ndisobeying curfews and embarking on social unrest activities. Some people want\nnothing else but disruption\/chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, it is\nextremely important that the government pays top priority to ensure that people\nwill not go hungry and that they are all fed\/looked after. The government along\nwith humanitarian orgnisations (temples, churches, various charities) should\nembark on the quick action of feeding the curfew affected people, importantly the\ncountry\u2019s poor. Free food distribution to affected families (poverty stricken) is\na must and this should not be further delayed. Those who like to conduct Wesak\ntype food stalls (dansals) should be encouraged to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who\nhave money, should be allowed to go out and do their shopping. For this\nsupermarkets, other essential shops especially pharmacies (including private) should\nbe allowed to be kept open daily.  To\navoid people misusing this \u2018freedom\u2019, a strictly enforced \u2018permit system\u2019\nshould be introduced, like in Wuhan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means the\ngovernment gradually moving away from the current strict curfew regime to a highly\ncontrol lockdown regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corona has\ncome to stay with us for some time. Whether we like it or not, it does not seem\nto disappear soon. Australia has set out a plan to \u2018live with Corona\u2019 for the\nnext   6 months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest\nobstacle is that we will not have a vaccine during the course of this year\n(2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time\nthat we develop both short and long term plans\/strategies to deal with Corona.\nPeople should be able to work; otherwise it will be the collapse of the economy,\nfinancial systems etc. The effects of such calamities will be too hard to\nfathom. This is why US, UK and Australia always talk about saving their\neconomies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once people\nresume work, the police\/military must monitor these activities very carefully.\nThose who disobey the very strict lockdown rules must be subjected to very\nheavy fines\/imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, we\nmust learn to live with Corona. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must think\nwisely and become prepared to face any future situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During future\nlockdowns, we must target that at least 70% – 80% of the people would remain\nindoors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social\nisolation and social distancing (minimum of 2 meters) are so important, BASICALLY\nTHEY DETERMINE OUR FUTURE EXISTENCE (whether we would live or die). This\nmessage must be conveyed to the masses more comprehensively, unfortunately many\nin our country do not still understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can defeat\nCorona, as long as if we have clever governments and clever people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage The government should be commended for imposing a 24 hour, island-wide curfew. It was a brave decision.  Sri Lanka is possibly the first country in the world to impose a 24 hour, island-wide curfew. We are also one of the first countries in the world to shut down schools. Many countries have followed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}