Country in critical COVID-19 level 4 stage – GMOA

GMOA - Government Medical Officer's Association - Sri Lanka

The GMOA has warned that by the end of this year the country will probably face a dangerous and uncontrollable situation with regard to the spread of COVID-19, as a strain of the virus, which is capable of overcoming the various vaccines being administered to prevent people from falling victim to the disease, has begun to emerge.

GMOA General Secretary Dr. Senal Fernando stated the time has come for the Government to make a public  announcement that the country has reached the level 4 stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hence, they have pointed out that the onus was with the Government to take measures accordingly to tackle its spread effectively throughout the country. Dr. Fernando explained that travel movements within the country will need to be restricted by 80 to 90 percent forthwith.

The GMOA General Secretary opined that due to reasons such as the emergence of various strains of the virus globally, the irregular and ad-hoc nature of the administration of various COVID-19 vaccines here, the present spread of the disease in society and the number of infections spiking daily it would be difficult to root out the possibility of a few COVID-19 variants endemic to Sri Lanka emerging here in the coming months.

He added that to curb the spread of the fatal illness the country would need to be prepared for it accordingly and urged the Government to develop the existing facilities at labs to determine the various COVID-19 variants effectively.

(Source: Ceylon Today – By JT de Silva)