{"id":100676,"date":"2020-04-02T16:58:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T23:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=100676"},"modified":"2020-04-02T16:58:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T23:58:25","slug":"praise-for-sri-lanka-from-the-world-health-organization-for-their-government-response-to-covid19-pandemic-how-they-succeeded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/04\/02\/praise-for-sri-lanka-from-the-world-health-organization-for-their-government-response-to-covid19-pandemic-how-they-succeeded\/","title":{"rendered":"Praise for Sri Lanka from the World Health Organization for their Government Response to COVID19 Pandemic -How they succeeded\u2026."},"content":{"rendered":"

Anjalika Silva, Gaithersburg MD – USA<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The island of Sri Lanka, in the Indian\nOcean usually referenced with negative connotations of terrorism, alleged human\nrights violations and other accusations is now in the forefront for its success\nand praise for handling the Covid19 pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \nAfter surviving a devastating tsunami, brutal terrorism for 30 years losing\n30,000 of their security forces and an unaccounted loss of civilians to suicide\nbombings, the people enjoyed hard won peace in 2009, until a bombing in April\n2019 killed 350 people at churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This resilient nation stood the test and\nknew how to save its people regardless of politics, popularity or complacency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Director General of the WHO paid a\ngreat compliment to Sri Lanka as the Best Health Service Among the World\u2019s\nBest\u201d.  He has since, made a phone call\nto the President of Sri Lanka to commend this country for the measures taken\nand visible results.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How this came about is explored here.  Sri Lanka had three deaths up to April 1,\n2020. At the time of this article, the total infections were under 150 for a\npopulation of 22 million in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\ninteresting to delve behind the scenes that supported this effort. The WHO Regional\nDirector for South-East Asia, Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh declared that the\nHealth Ministry of Sri Lanka had also accomplished drug price reduction.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Being the size of West Virginia, with 22\nmillion people of multireligious and multiethnic diversity, speaking three\nlanguages, despite international misinformation of ethnic and religious\nintolerance, they came together as one nation. To put human life first meant\nstanding up to opposition for necessary actions.  Noncompliance was remedied swiftly for the wellbeing\nof people that included natives and tourists from 14 different countries. The\nbottom line was singular goals across the country for effective management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka reported the first case of Corona\non January 27, 2020 and a second case on March 11, 2020.  The first death was on March 28, next on\nMarch 30 and the third on April 1, 2020. \nNot everyone heeded warnings about the magnitude of danger.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With experience, skills and expertise of\nthe security forces and unwavering leadership of a newly elected President, with\nmoral seriousness, all resources came to the forefront to get working.               <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the US based\n(NIAID) continues to explain the characteristics of viruses educating\nnonscientific audiences about the importance of breaking the victory chain of\nthe virus.  Microbes do not respect\ngeographic or political boundaries. They have their own timeline and\nlifecycle.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka acted in January as reported by\ntravelers who were checked with thermal screening at airports. Preparation for\nquarantine was already in place.  These\nimmediate steps kept the numbers down as tourism was a vital part of the economy.  In meeting needs for quarantine, some of the\nstar class luxury hotels were converted for this purpose in the exotic beach\nareas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Centralized and decisive but responsive\nleadership with the courage to make unpopular decisions, set right policies,\nplanning and implementing expert input, uniformly applied regardless of size or\nposition of power on the globe, saved lives. Added to this asset was a free healthcare\nsystem network of state hospitals nationwide, already in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka had to deal with 33 of Sri Lankan\nstudents studying in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. Sri Lankans\nin large numbers are employed in Italy and South Korea as migrant workers. Chinese\ncollaborative projects with Sri Lanka had a working population that moved\nbetween the two countries.  These hot spots\nneeded swift action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The network immediately took stringent\nmeasures, organized facilities in place to assist all those who were returning\ncitizens before it became necessary to stop all inbound travel. There were\ntourists who were protected under the same facilities and the government\nextended visas of all tourists with closing travel facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 33 students returned to the island on\nFebruary 1, on a special Mercy Flight of the Sri Lankan Airlines, at the\nrequest of the President Gotabhaya Rajapakse.<\/em><\/strong> A brave crew trained\nand equipped, flew this mission. The returning students were quarantined at a\nmajor Army Base that was ready on arrival for a 14-day quarantine.  They were released on the 14th<\/sup> of\nFebruary and were met by the Commander of the Army Lt. General Shavendra\nSilva<\/strong> who headed all operations with the cooperation of the other security\nforces.  They headed home with no\ninfections.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early stages, the repatriated\nmigrant workers from Italy and South Korea, were placed in quarantine\nfacilities close to their hometowns but under one body the National Health\nServices of the country headed by the Director General of Health Services\nDr. Anil Jasinghe<\/em><\/strong>.  There were 46\nquarantine facilities made ready prior to their arrival. Monitoring staggered\nreturnees continued with quarantine in their homes, to ensure compliance.  They were transported by Government and\nmilitary to prevent contact between family members, and all vehicles and\ncontaminants were duly sanitized.  The\nmilitary provided beds and bedding for the quarantine units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has a premier hospital for Infectious\nDiseases (IDH) located within reach of the capital.   In the case of Covid19, due to unprecedented\nnumbers, it was connected to satellite quarantine facilities. These hospitals\nunder the Ministry of Health followed guidelines applicable to the entire\nnation by one authority was headed by the Minister of Health Mrs.\nPavithra Wanniarachchi<\/em><\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of those who were exposed were foreign\ntourists from 14 countries.  After duly\nreleasing them at the end of quarantine, the tourists applauded the attention\nand efficiency they received in video and written submissions to the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The state hospitals are staffed by medical\npersonnel trained under a national system of education with roots in the\nBritish system as the country was a colony until independence in 1948. Medical\ngraduates are employed in private or government hospitals.  The highly competitive Medical Schools are\nfree.  Nursing is also standardized\nwithin the country. These professions are not isolated from international\nstandards and training opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Pharmaceutical, consumer goods, food,\npower, water supply and in every other industry, state owned corporations\ncompete with the privately owned corporate counterparts to keep costs down to\nprotect consumers from artificial scarcities and price gauging. The poor were\nprovided food at no cost. Even the dogs abandoned by those who were affected\nwere fed on the street by the Police and citizen volunteers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The country will continue to call for\nfurther improvement, but Corona taught people to appreciate that they had the infrastructure\nand leadership in place to focus on getting through the Pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A curfew was imposed early to prevent spreading\nof the virus.  Schools closed\nindefinitely. Security forces, government agencies and private businesses\njoined forces to provide needs of the people to their door. People had the\nability to stay in place in their homes with a lifeline for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The garment export industry stepped in to\nretool and provide supplies for medical personnel and the general public. The\nneed for alcohol-based sanitizers also came from private industry and the state-owned\nSugar Corporation that stepped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most valuable resource immediately\nmobilized was the well trained, disciplined security forces of the Army, Navy\nand Airforce supported by the Police.  Using\nsecurity personnel is not a popular decision for any leader.  President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapakse, elected\nin November 2019, a former US Citizen who renounced his US nationality to take\non the role, a former military officer, has won praise of his people for difficult\nbut necessary actions  taken with support\nfrom all sectors. He explained to the nation the circumstances to meet more\nimportant challenges.  The nation\nunderstood and approved his handling of the crisis and cooperated.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Covid-19 is an organism with a life\ncycle that is predetermined, and completed with aggression moving on to reinfect\nexponentially if not managed. The trilingual media played a role in educating\nthe people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President of Sri Lanka acted with moral\nseriousness, even with an upcoming general election later this year.  He was supported by the Army Commander\nShavendra Silva<\/strong> who led the overall operation.  The citizen needs were taken care of with the\nleadership of the Police Media Commissioner Ajith Rohana<\/em><\/strong>. They\nwere in the field making sure all self-quarantined were following rules and\nkept in touch with them. The Police monitored the state-run quarantine needs\nand enforced the curfew.  Violators of\nthe social distancing and the curfew were subject to arrest and vehicles that\ntraversed the streets without curfew permits had the vehicle taken away.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy handled shipments of food supplies\nfrom ports.  They also engaged in\nsanitizing the streets and public places to prevent infection. The engineering\nunit of the Airforce designed and built multiple isolation units with washrooms\nand did so in 10 days proving the operation can be extrapolated on a larger\nscale.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A private company built a robot to\naccurately deliver food and medicines to the quarantined patients preventing\ninfection of medical staff.  They were\nalso able to communicate with the doctors via the robots.  These are now expedited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka lost its first Corona victim on\nMarch 27, two more by April 1. Within 2 months and 5 days, there were under 150\npositive cases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A visitor to Sri Lanka from Ireland reports\nthat he arrived in Sri Lanka January 24th<\/sup> and was immediately\nscanned with a thermal scanner.  The word\nwas out about Covid19. A nationwide curfew was in place with a small window of\ntime open for people to collect necessities. It didn\u2019t take long to prevent\nhoarding of necessities and action was taken to prevent price gauging according\nto this visitor from Ireland.  He had\npraise for the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing schools and non-essential services with\nmandatory curfew to keep people from large gatherings and enforcing social\ndistancing helped to keep infection down. \nAt the time of writing this article on April 1, 2020, news reports\nindicated and 10 were declared cured and released.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industries with the ability to change their\nproduction lines and retool supported the government with making Personal\nProtective Equipment (PPE) including gowns and masks for medical personnel and\nother needs as required.  Religious\norganizations are donating to keep people and the front-line workers\nsupported.  The Government is helping\nwith financial and other relief for those who have lost earnings.  Wheels are turning in all parts of the\ncountry including the Northern region, with no language or racial barriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disposal of the remains of Corona\nvictims is also supervised by the authorities. \nDue to the high risk involved, they are cremated and only one member of\na family is permitted to be present with proper attire.  Although some religious groups in Sri Lanka\ndo not cremate, in the circumstances, for the protection of all people, it is\nfollowed for valid reasons.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caskets and vehicles used for transport are\nsanitized inside and out.  The Police\nescorts the remains and provides instructions to the fully attired crematorium\nstaff. They place the casket in the chamber, remove all the protective outer\nwear to be burned in the chamber with the casket.  The handlers are then transported in a\nsanitized vehicle and instructed to shower fully clothed under hot running\nwater before disposing of clothing. \nThese stringent procedures ensure that spread is prevented.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 30-year war ended, the same\nmilitary that served the civilians in all parts of the country including the\nNorth are serving people of one nation for one purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the same military to which child\nsoldiers surrendered across enemy lines. \nThey were rehabilitated and returned to families, saved from being child\nsoldiers with the terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the same security forces that were\nhauled before the Human Rights Tribunal even as recently as March 2019, for\nviolations not proven even 10 years after the end of the war. These men and\nwomen in uniform fought terrorists who as non-state players were never held\naccountable for war crimes, murder and a host of violations.  Those murdered were hundreds of policemen,\nmilitary, mainstream Tamil politicians, the Prime Minister of India, a\nPresident of Sri Lanka, a much-loved Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka from the\nTamil community and other prominent scholars and intellectuals of all ethnic\ngroups. All war conventions of human rights were violated by terrorists not\nheld accountable, but the military faced war crimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current Army Commander Shavendra Silva who\nprovided leadership for all the Humanitarian Preservation activities in the\nCorona pandemic 2020 is banned from visiting the US and labelled as a war\ncriminal.  So are many other senior\nmilitary officers who have served humanity during, before and after the war\nended to protect civilians. Sri Lanka\u2019s military is giving their best keeping\ndeaths down to 3 when the US reports today, April 1, as the deadliest with close\nto 1000 Corona deaths in one day climbing further.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many exceptional people in Sri Lanka remain\nbehind a shadow of a cloud that has misrepresented them to the US and other western\ncountries. When a crisis occurs, like this Pandemic, there is nothing short of\nthe best humanitarian service provided to others by the people who are wrongly\naccused.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recognition and praise of the WHO is\nduly deserved by all concerned for their exceptional Humanitarian Service. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anjalika Silva, Gaithersburg MD – USA The island of Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean usually referenced with negative connotations of terrorism, alleged human rights violations and other accusations is now in the forefront for its success and praise for handling the Covid19 pandemic. After surviving a devastating tsunami, brutal terrorism for 30 years losing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100676","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=100676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100676\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}