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No major issues on the internal front – Kandakadu cluster putting out sporadic cases
View(s):Sri Lanka has no community transmission of COVID-19 but health experts in one voice are of the view that to keep this triumph as a long-lasting success, people should strictly stick to the preventive measures of hand-hygiene, wearing face-masks and maintaining social distance in public places.
“The authorities are keeping all the entry-points into the country closed to protect and safeguard our gains when many countries are in deep trouble. So people too need to be responsible,” one source said.
The Health Ministry’s Chief Epidemiologist, Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, told the Sunday Times that the country’s one-and-only internally active Kandakadu-Senapura cluster is under control. Sporadic cases are being diagnosed as RT-PCR testing is being done at both these Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres. Everyone in the two centres will remain in quarantine for another 14 days, as the health authorities watch the situation.
Giving the numbers, the Commissioner-General of Rehabilitation, Major-General Dharshana Hettiarrachchi said that seven people (six inmates and one staff member) of the Kandakadu centre and six of the Senapura centre who are positive for COVID-19 are being treated at the Welikanda Base Hospital as of Thursday.
Dr. Samaraweera, referring to different aspects of the COVID-19 issue, said that no firm decision has been taken on the opening of the entry-points including the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake.
He said that there are around 55,000 to 58,000, Sri Lankans mainly in West Asia who are in dire need of returning home.
When asked how the hotels which are quarantine centres are being managed, he explained that the hotel staff does so, while armed forces personnel are also around to support them if the need arises. Of the 71 quarantine centres, 32 are hotels and the other 39 state-run centres managed by the army, navy and Air Force.
What happens at the port?
Meanwhile, a source at the Colombo Port said that any Sri Lankan or foreign seafarer who arrives there has to undergo RT-PCR testing and is sent into a hotel which is designated as a quarantine centre for the mandatory 14-day period. If the test result is positive, the person is transferred from the hotel to hospital. Those not positive, after the 14-day period, are sent into home quarantine for a further 14 days.
“Three RT-PCR tests are done on seafarers – as soon as they disembark, while in quarantine and when they are leaving the quarantine centre,” the source said. Referring to ships which call at the port for repairs, the Sunday Times learns that all crew members have to undergo RT-PCR testing. They will be allowed to come into the dockyard depending on their results. If a positive case is diagnosed among the crew members, the ship will not be allowed to enter the port.
“If a seafarer has to come off a ship due to an emergency, that person is sent to a normal hospital, where an RT-PCR test would be done. If the person tests positive, he would be transferred to a dedicated COVID-19 hospital,” the source added.