No community spread- But numbers high

There is no evidence yet to suggest that the Covid-19 pandemic has reached a community-spread level, said Deputy Director-General of Health Services for Public Health Dr. Hemantha Herath responding to reporters at the press briefing held by the Health Ministry yesterday (19).

 

"There is not enough evidence to use the word community spread yet. Only a small percentage is found in the society, which means there is difficulty to locate a contact or a source," he said.

 

While warning the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths could surge further in the coming weeks, State Minister Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle said when over 2,000 positive cases are reported daily, there is two or three times the number of cases that are undetected in the community.

 

She told reporters today that it was of much importance that people must stay indoors minimizing unnecessary movement and added if they wanted to go outside for urgent needs, the health guidelines must be followed.

 

“If people continued to act irresponsibly, the situation would end up in a calamity shortly. Therefore, we humbly request the people to make sure that they remain safe and responsibly,” the State Minister said.

 

“There is no point in increasing beds and ICUs capacity if we lose human resources,” she pointed out. Considering the rapid escalation of COVID infections and deaths in the country, the govt. should impose scientific, methodical, and strict travel restrictions for at least 14 days, Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine of the Colombo University Senior Lecturer Dr. Manuj C. Weerasinghe said.

 

He said a proposal in this regard has been submitted to the Government. "As we forecast earlier and through our experience, at least 4,000 to 5,000 people are getting infected by the COVID virus daily, but we only see half of the total. From the remaining half, there is a strong possibility of more people will get infected," he said.