Government Medical Officers’ Association presents nine strategies to tackle COVID-19 – Dr. Padeniya

The COVID-19 death rate in Sri Lanka is 0.2 percent while it is two to four percent in the world, President, Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Consultant Paediatric Neurologist Anuruddha Padeniya said.

Dr. Padeniya said other countries such as the US ignored the elderly population who suffered from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and other chronic diseases while managing COVID-19 which led to a large number of deaths reported from those countries. However, in Sri Lanka, priority was given to protect the elderly and the sick.

Dr. Padeniya said the GMOA has presented nine strategies to manage the current situation.

The highest risk of a further spread in COVID-19 is in the supply chain.

Therefore, the same system implemented for supply systems of the health sector and Security Forces should be applied promptly to all other supply chains in the country, he said.

Even if the Government locks down the entire country, the spread of COVID-19 will not be halted without ensuring the safety of all supply chains. At present, only the health supply chain and Security Forces’ supply chain are safe, he added.

The people of Sri Lanka should act more with a sense of responsibility and those who travel to safe (green) areas from unsafe (red) areas should behave properly, he said adding that people should do their duty towards controlling the current situation.

Three out of nine strategies in the GMOA’s proposals are focused on people’s contribution towards controlling COVID-19 but the people’s contribution is very poor, he added.

(Source: Sunday Observer – By Nadira Gunatilleke)