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SECRET TRYST COURTING COVID: UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe flings caution to the winds and braves coronavirus risk at Big Match

Notwithstanding the discovery of the first Lankan testing positive for the coronavirus on Lankan soil on March 10 and in spite of reports of another victim the following day, signalling that the COVID had landed and the invasion had begun in full swing, thousands embarked on a three-day binge of cricketing revelry last Thursday; and blithely attended the 141st  encounter of the Battle of the Blues, braving closed encounters with the corona kind to keep traditions alive, without giving a bat’s ass for the deadly fallout that may well envelope an entire society and embrace it with the kiss of death.

Both schools, Royal and S. Thomas, along with all schools in the island, had been closed by Government order to stem the proliferation of the COVID contagion but, funnily enough, both Royalists and Thomians, young and old, near and far were allowed to gather en masse on one common ground at Colombo’s SSC for three consecutive days to see the willow swung and a toast drunk and to make merry in wild abandon, while the rest of the country were being warned to practise social distancing or  face the threat of isolation in makeshift  quarantine camps to curb the virus spreading far and wide due to social mixing; or face a lockdown or, worse, a curfew.

During the big match week, Lankans returning from specified European countries were being quarantined in Batticaloa, airlines had been informed to stop bringing in passengers from Italy, South Korea and Iran, issuances of visas to Europeans had been suspended, universities had been shut down and it had also been decided to restrict large gatherings of people as well as events, even at religious places of worship which moved the Bishop of Colombo, Cardinal  Malcolm Ranjith, to cancel Sunday mass till further notice.

But though the Government warning that the country faced a health epidemic of a magnitude it had never experienced before had been writ large, the authorities of both schools chose to look askance. Not even when the grim message was spelt out in a language they, perhaps,  understood better — that the crisis warranted even the cancellation of the England cricket tour of Lanka — they still remained intransigent and refused to change their minds and place the nation’s precious health above the rich spoils of the Blues’ battle.

No wonder President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was peeved when he learnt the match had been held in spite of his presidential request to postpone it, considering the risk of the virus spreading near and far after such a mass congregation of Bacchus worshippers, with social mixing being the event’s theme.

How many would come in to the ground with the coronavirus plastered invisibly on their hands and lips and how many more would leave the field carrying the COVID as souvenirs to be distributed to family and friends gratis, none, last week, could foretell for sure but could point out for certain that the risk was real and immense.

On Tuesday, addressing the COVID Task Force at the Presidential Secretariat which was nationally televised, a visibly annoyed President Rajapaksa spoke of how he had requested that the Royal-Thomian big match be cancelled, but his call had been ignored.

The President said: “They wanted to play the Royal-Thomian and I said don’t play, stop it. But they insisted that they wanted to go ahead with the match and they played the match. The result was a virus infected First Officer of SriLankan Airlines attending the cricket encounter. Today, some of the SriLankan Airlines staff members have been asked to undergo the self-quarantine process.”

Pity, the President did not put his foot down and stop it. Today as a result, not only have some of the SriLankan Airlines staff members been asked to undergo the self-quarantine process but hundreds more Thomians and Royalists have gone into self-imposed solitary exile to prevent infecting their own family members and most probably are ruing the day they went for the match.

And that’s not all. The Turf Club Committee who are organizers of the Turf  Club Tent at which the victim was present at the Royal-Thomian match, have said that they have informed all persons who were present in the tent, to self-quarantine for 14 days immediately.

While the infected flight officer is reported to be in a stable condition at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Angoda, Health Ministry officials are currently contacting all members who were present in the tent at the match, and inquiring after their health and informing them over the telephone to undergo quarantine immediately.

Some top executives of companies and banks have been asked by their bosses to ‘work from home’ and not set foot on company premises. Some more are been hunted by the police after having been identified as those who came into close contact with the COVID Srilankan First Officer.

And all of them, all who attended the match which the coronavirus graced with its deadly presence, will sweat out, whether in self-imposed quarantine or no, the 14-day incubation period, dreading whether the mark of COVID has already been branded on their selves upon leaving the SSC gates as solid evidence of their attendance at the match.

One of them who will be counting the days of the 14-day incubation period which will end next Sunday will, no doubt, be Old Royalist Ranil Wickremesinghe who ignored all government warnings of the danger of mass social mixing and, flinging caution to the winds, flirted the coronavirus risk to keep with tradition, even if it meant being martyred on Royal-Thomian stumps.

It’s a tradition he had kept whether he was in the opposition or in power as the nation’s Prime Minister: to arrive at around tea time on the last day of the match, even as his uncle J. R. Jayewardene had done during his time.

But was it wise, this time? Was it prudent for him to have kept true to this tradition this time when the entire nation was in danger of being engulfed by the coronavirus and the government was repeatedly warning that attendance at mass events was to be avoided like the plague at all costs to minimise its virulent spread?

Did his attendance send the wrong message to the masses to treat with a pinch of salt the government’s corona warnings? For if such high ups could flagrantly disregard such warnings, why should the common man stay cowed down at home in fear of the corona scaremongering?

Ranil Wickremesinghe is the leader of Lanka’s main opposition party, the UNP. Just four months ago he ended serving the nation for a record breaking fifth term as Prime Minister and, no doubt, intends to be Prime Minister for the sixth time should his party win the forthcoming elections when it is finally held. By all means, he is a national leader expected by the people to show the lead, especially when the nation is in crisis, not the captain of the Royalists’ cheer squad.

So what nostalgic longings to re-live his lost schoolboy days made him toss all cares away and attend the annual match and wave his blue yellow and blue when, instead, he should have been outside the ground’s gates and, in statesman manner, waving the red flag and warning those barging in that, given the COVID 19 threat this year, to return home and watch the match, ball by ball, on live television, as only fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

What on earth made him take leave of his senses and mingle with the crowd at his regular tent and then saunter off to the pavilion a few blocks away and there climb up the steps to the upper floor to say a brief hello to the former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa who had also turned up at the match to watch the cricket?

On March 15, Ranil Wickremesinghe, on the day he attended the match, urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to call leaders of all political parties and other relevant stakeholders for a meeting to come up with a plan to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and mitigate rising social-economic problems.

Then on March 17, four days after mingling with crowds at the big match and keeping a secret tryst with the corona risk, he said in a televised speech, “We have to consider the available medical facilities in Sri Lanka when faced with the corona crisis. For instance, in Italy there are 25 ICU beds for every 200,000 people, in Lanka there is only 1 ICU bed for every 200,000 people. There is a serious shortage of ventilators because of this if the coronavirus spreads we face an enormous crisis. Easter Sunday, Ramadan and the Sinhala and Hindu New Year will be upon us soon, so will the General Election, so the risk of the virus spreading is even more. We must immediately have a plan to prevent the spread of this virus. We request the government to pay full attention to prevent the spread of this virus. I ask you the public to extend all support to prevent the spread of this virus. I also appeal to you to think of your personal safety and to follow the safety guidelines given.”

Pity, isn’t it, that he warned the government of the enormity of the crisis if the virus were to spread and then played truant by not heeding own advice and rashly put himself and others at risk by participating in the match revelry? Pity, also, isn’t it that four days later, after flouting government warnings already in place last week, he had to repeat his own sermons of social mixing after sinning himself?

By his rash and reprehensible conduct on March 14 followed, nevertheless, by his exemplary speech two days later, Ranil Wickremesinghe has unambiguously shown the effortless way in which politicians can preach with a straight face on Wednesday the exact opposite of what they brazenly practiced on Saturday.

The Chinese free entry pass Last week the SUNDAY PUNCH raised the query why all Lankans returning from corona-hit countries were automatically quarantined while Chinese returning from China, birthplace of the Wuhan COVID, were allowed automatic entry, no questions asked. In the first two weeks of this month, while great play had been given to the quarantine measures adopted to curb the  spread of the coronavirus, little was known that over 1400 Chinese sans any local medical checks had been allowed the keys to the isle. As the Sunday Times reported last Sunday, ‘the Government continuing to allow the Chinese to enter the country without a quarantine process. More than 1,400 Chinese have come to Sri Lanka in the past two weeks.’ Last week, Director of Health Services, Dr. Anil Jasinghe’s weak explanation that didn’t hold water was that the number of new cases reported in China had dropped to 23 on Thursday, even though World Health Organisation’s updated risk assessment ranked China as ‘Very High’. This week brings a new reason why the Chinese had been eligible for free entry by passing quarantine whilst the native returnee had to spend 14 days in quarantine before receiving his welcome home. The Health Ministry said the reason why all Chinese nationals who had arrived in Sri Lanka in recent weeks to date were exempt from mandatory quarantine here, was because they were workers who were involved in development projects, and they had arrived after undergoing the necessary quarantine procedures in China. Ministry officials said, “Rumors speculating that Chinese nationals who are returning here maybe carriers of the virus, are not true as they have undergone the necessary procedures. If they had shown any symptoms, they would have never been allowed to travel here by the authorities in their country.” But can the Government afford to depend upon a medical certificate issued by some foreign doctor declaring the person was free of COVID. For the last three weeks China had been reporting new cases of coronavirus and even though the country was declared virus free by its own government this week, the danger of the virus riding piggy back on arriving Chine cannot be ignored? Could the authorities have afforded to have placed their trust on some dubious certificate written vertically from right to left in illegible Mandarin? Even if it was genuine couldn’t the Chinese have contracted the virus whilst waiting for his date of departure to dawn? It is true the Chinese government this Wednesday extended Lanka a loan of US$ 500 million. A Chinese Embassy communiqué issued in this regard said: “The facility was urgently requested by the Sri Lankan government and supported by the Chinese side, under current financial situation in Sri Lanka and the background of fighting COVID-19 pandemic with all-out efforts.’ Rich, isn’t it, the Chinese giving a loan to Lanka to fight a virus they themselves gave birth to and Lanka lapping it up with profuse thanks and gratitude when she should be demanding compensation from China for allowing the virus to escapes from its land, which would be the case in the law between individuals based on the tort of negligence. The Chinese Government may have buttered Lanka’s bread on both sides but no nation can afford to barter away its indispensable health and place it at risk in the face of a pandemic the magnitude of which the world has never encountered before. Today the BIA has been temporarily closed. But when the airport is open the Government should review its decision and refuse to grant favoured status to any foreign nationals even if they bring cake with icing on both sides.

Who’s afraid of the corona when we have braved disasters, disease and wild beasts?Sri Pada chief monk stubbornly insists on keeping season open for thousands of pilgrims to throng the mount  of the rising sun DEFIANT CHIEF OF THE MOUNT: The Ven. Bengamuwe Dammadinna Thera As the corona invasion threatened to storm every nook and cranny in the island, the Government was busy these last few days doing its best to contain its rapid spread. It had closed down all schools and universities, zoological and botanical parks, cinemas and theatres, sporting grounds and gyms, imposed a three-day holiday with only essential places open for commerce, and was considering clamping a total lockdown to prevent the speedy spread of the COVID contagion. Day in and night out the media was spelling out in detail every known facet of the deadly virus and how to guard against it by washing one’s hands and face after returning home. It was also advising the public to steer clear of congregations and pointing out that the sure fire way to increase its range was to hob nob with crowds. Not only would one place one’s own self at risk but also one’s loved ones in danger not to mention the safety of the public at large. A huge taxing operation had also been launched to quarantine all Lankans returning from COVID rampant countries, the purpose being to isolate all suspected corona cases and minimise its spread. Not only was this message monotonously hammered home by both the print and electronic media but every phone call dialed was first greeted with a recorded COVID warning to shun gatherings. Social mixing became an ugly phrase while ‘social distancing’ became the in chic jargon of the day. But somewhere in the Samanala Mountain Range where, as legend holds,  the Sri Pada mount rises to greet the sun as it pays homage in the early morning light to the footprint of the Buddha said to be placed at the peak on the Buddha’s legendary third visit to the  island, the ‘Beware Corona’ message seems to have gone unheard. Nay, it has been totally ignored; and then when made aware, it was contemptuously snubbed and spat upon and held as an unwarranted trespass upon the domain of the gods. While the rest of the country was receiving the message loud and clear and most were heeding it, Sri Pada’s chief monk was, this week, sticking fast to his guns and stubbornly insisting on keeping the pilgrimage season open for thousand to throng the mount of the rising sun. The monk’s determination to carry on regardless and allow ‘nade’ after ‘nade’ climb up the Sri Pada steps only came to light when the President revealed on Tuesday his astonishment to hear from another monk, whom he had called that day and wished to meet, tell him he was unable to do so since his ‘’driver was taking a group of pilgrims to Sri Pada.” Appeals to the monk were to no avail. Standing firm as the Sri Pada mount itself, The Ven. Bengamuwe Dammadinna Thera, Chief incumbent of Sri Padasthana, said on Monday that the pilgrimage would continue until the Vesak full Moon Day in May, as usual. The prelate who is also the Chancellor of the Uva-Wellassa University said: ‘’Buddhists had visited the sacred mountain in the past with great sacrifices. They had even risked their life, without fearing natural disasters, threats from the wild animals and diseases.’’ “In fact many of them died of wild animal attacks and various diseases then” the Thera said. The Ven. Bengamuwe Dammadinna Thera recalled that people in the past had visited the sacred mount, after handing over all their assets to their relatives, as they did not expect their return home. But they had braved the mountain steeps fearing not death. They made these sacrifices in order to invoke the blessings of the Buddha and the God Saman. ‘Had they feared diseases or viruses such as the current coronavirus, people wouldn’t have been climbing the sacred mountain for so long, the thera said. All that maybe true but even if the monk, Chief of the Mount and Chancellor of the Uva-Wellassa University no less, is granted the benefit of the doubt, isn’t he failing to see the woods for the tress? Isn’t he missing to grasp one salient fact? No one is questioning the pilgrims’ courage, the strength of their faith or casting aspersions on their commitment and their ready willingness even to die, martyred on the mountain slopes where all religions meet at its summit. That is their right. As long as they stay on the mountain. It’s when they start coming down, the worry begins. That is the reason why there was a presidential request for the Sri Pada chief monk not to allow pilgrimages up Sri Pada and thereafter a Government ban on trips and tours placed on Thursday.  It was not inspired so much by concern whether those climbing the mountain would survive the climb but stirred more by anxiety whether the masses below would survive the coronavirus spread if the pilgrims returned to base camp COVID infected. The Ven. Bengamuwe Dammadinna Thera, Chief incumbent of Sri Padasthana and Chancellor of the Uva-Wellassa University should consider the broader picture and realise what’s at stake. It’s not faith that is being questioned. It’s his parochial judgement. Thousands follow the Buddha’s dictate: Act with wisdom and awareness. Even as those who believe in an Almighty God follow the truism: Trust thy Lord but lock thy doors.