By now the day-to-day life in Sri Lanka continues under the set of rules and regulations issued by the Government in order to protect people from COVID-19 while allowing them to keep their livelihoods.
The COVID-19 situation is subject to change from time to time and currently the country is considered at Alert Level 3. Strong observance of DReAM is required D- Social Distancing , no gatherings , mainly stay at home, Re- Respiratory Etiquette, A- aseptic practices ( hand wash ,hand sanitizing ) M – proper use of mask).
According to the Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Jayaruwan Bandara, the very first thing that should be done in the early morning after stepping into any office in the country is opening all doors and especially windows then switching on all fans in order to make air clean and safe. The doors and windows should be kept open all the time in order to fresh air come into the room from outside. Closed and small vehicles and rooms can spread COVID-19 speedily. Therefore shutters of vehicles should be opened before getting on to a vehicle and they should be kept open, he said.
According to the new set of rules and regulations introduced, only two persons are permitted to go out from one house unless engaged in essential services/permitted work. Public transport is only allowed to transport passengers up to 75 percent seating capacity of the bus/train. Taxi services should ensure the maximum number of passengers is limited to two for cars and trishaws (three wheelers). For other types of vehicles, it is limited to 50 percent of the seating capacity.
All the Government offices should function with a minimum number of staff required. Others to work from home where feasible. When it comes to all private offices, they should function with a minimum number of staff required. Others to work from home where feasible.
Supermarkets should allow a maximum of 50 percent of the total number of customers that could be accommodated in the space available at a given time adhering to the instructions given. (On the basis of - 1.5m2 of available walking space can be considered as adequate for one person).
Shopping malls should allow 1.5m2 of available walking space and can be considered as adequate for one person inside the individual shops. For shops: A maximum of 50 percent of the total number customers that could be accommodated in the space available can be allowed at a given time adhering to the instructions given. Gatherings and entertainment in the mall premises are strictly not allowed.
Banks, finance companies etc. should have a maximum of 50 percent of the total number customers that could be accommodated in the space available can be allowed at a given time adhering to the instructions given.
Clothing or textile shops should have 1.5m2 of available walking space which is considered as adequate for one person. A maximum of 50 percent of the total number customers that could be accommodated in the space available can be allowed at a given time adhering to the instructions given.
Grocery shops and open markets or fairs should allow a maximum of 50 percent of the total number customers that could be accommodated in the space available at a given time adhering to the instructions given.
Schools, higher education centres including universities, cinemas, theatres, children’s parks, swimming pools, casinos, night clubs, spas, day rooms and home stays should be kept closed.
Parties/events (indoor), parties/events (outdoor), beach parties, public gatherings, carnivals, musical shows etc. not permitted.
Weddings can be held with a maximum of 50 guests adhering to the instructions given. Funerals (Except COVID-19 Deaths) can be held taking all possible precautions to minimize the number attending to a maximum of 25 persons at a given time adhering to the instructions given.
New health guidelines
According to the new guidelines issued by the Health Ministry, COVID-19 situation is subject to change from time to time and an alert level system with four levels has been introduced.
Alert level-1 is when cases reported are only those coming from outside the country (detected in quarantine centres) and no clusters while Alert level-2 is when there is one cluster of cases. The country is at Alert Level-3 when several clusters in different districts are reported.
When cases are appearing with no connection to any cluster it will be Community transmission at Alert level 4. Functions permitted in the country will depend on the alert level.
There are countries in the world which controlled COVID-19 much better than Sri Lanka. The specialty of those countries is the honesty of the people, their discipline and especially their long standing rich culture of strict adhering to the rules and regulations imposed by their Governments.
Some such countries are Cambodia which recorded 294 COVID-19 cases and no deaths, Bhutan which recorded 358 COVID-19 cases and no deaths, Seychelles which recorded 154 COVID-19 cases and no deaths, Mongolia which recorded 356 COVID-19 cases and no deaths, Vietnam which recorded 1,213 COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths, etc. Singapore recorded a total of 58,047 COVID-19 cases and 28 deaths.
What most of the Sri Lankans do is finding fault with the Government and the relevant authorities all the time while totally ignoring the individual social responsibility. In addition some Sri Lankans are doing another grave offence. It is using COVID-19 as a tool to harass specific individuals. They do this inside some state and private institutions. What they want is to harass a specific person or persons but they actually spread COVID-19 by doing so. It happened during the past when some areas locked down. Some Department Heads and bosses forced some employees from those areas to report to work. It happened both in some State and some private institutions.
Yesterday Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said over electronic media that it was found that some department heads are forcing employees from locked down areas to report to work.
The Government has very clearly stated that institutions should function with the minimum number of employees but certain individuals in decision making level demand more than the required number of employees to report to work just to harass them and score ‘marks’ from their bosses. Another dangerous thing they do is demanding certain employees who permanently work online (that is the nature of their work) to come to offices. Then those employees travel 50 or 60 kilometres from public transport, come to their offices and work online.
Some others want to organise various events no matter how much people get COVID-19 or how many die as a result of the event. Some others want to go out and take part in those events no matter what happens to their parents, grandparents and sick husband/wife, brothers and sisters. They are suffering from a strange disease. They are allergic to their homes. They want to escape from their homes no matter where they go or what they do. Most of them think that COVID-19 affects all the others but not them.
Lack of awareness and indiscipline
In March this year all Sri Lankans were dead scared of COVID-19. They followed all the rules and regulations imposed by the Government and health authorities. As a result Sri Lanka got rid of COVID-19 from the society and it was reported only from quarantine centres where passengers arriving from affected foreign countries were kept for the compulsory 14 day quarantine period.
But with the passage of time, Sri Lankans forgot the gravity of COVID-19 and all health guidelines introduced to protect them from COVID-19. All people, public and private institutions took it very lightly and started to play the game of ‘wearing helmets to escape from the police’ with masks.
People started to strongly believe three main myths. They are ‘they are my relations so I do not need to wear masks, keep required distance or follow any health guidelines’, ‘they are my friends so I am safe and no need to follow any of those health guidelines’ and ‘they are my colleagues so I am safe and no need to follow any of those health guideline’. The people started to make fun out the others who followed all health guidelines all the time, no matter whom they associate with.
At least now we have to follow the few simple health guidelines in order to protect our mother, father, sick brother or sister and may be our grandparents if they stay with us. They are: wearing a three layer standard mask all the time when going out from home, keeping a distance of two metres or more from another person and washing hands with soap and water whenever possible and using a standard alcohol based (you can see whether it is mentioned in the label) hand sanitizer whenever soap and water are not available or accessible.
