The authorities gave an opportunity to the people to enjoy full freedom of movement whilst adhering to the health guidelines for almost seven months despite the pandemic.
True, Sri Lanka had managed the pandemic in much better way than most other countries even after the emergence of Peliyagoda and Minuwangoda clusters in September-October last year.
Thus the Government did not go for any hard lockdowns or other tough measures that would have curbed public freedoms and even harmed the economy.
To be fair by the Government, it did not for a moment urge the public to let go of the health guidelines at any time. The Government did warn that the battle against Covid-19 was not over yet by any means and advised people to follow all guidelines including social (physical) distancing, avoiding large crowds, wearing face masks, washing hands frequently with soap and water or sanitiser and being at home if Coronavirus symptoms are apparent.
Yet, the vast majority of people in the country behaved as if we had seen an end to the contagion, over the past few months and especially last month.
Despite the acute and frequent warnings of the Government and health authorities, the people celebrated the Sinhala and Tamil New Year as if it was a normal year sans a pandemic.
They went shopping, travelled en masse to villages, organised mostly maskless leisure trips and Avurudu festivals and generally disregarded all health precautions and guidelines issued by authorities. It was a surefire recipe for disaster.
The medical fraternity and the Public Health Inspectors, who know the situation on the ground better than anyone else, had advised that the public’s laissez faire attitude towards the pandemic would result in a massive spike in cases.
Now their worst fears have come true. The most frightening part of this episode is that most people were well aware of what was happening in our giant neighbour to the North.
Just like here, the people in India were overcome by a triumphalist attitude that they had somehow overcome the virus. This proved to be their undoing. There were massive religious gatherings, election rallies and even sports events where health guidelines were totally ignored.
The result is that India is now experiencing around 400,000 cases daily with around 4,000 fatalities per day on average, with the entire health system on the verge of breakdown. It took just a few weeks for this immense tragedy to unfold.
It is in this context that the Government has decided to put its foot down firmly despite its earlier stance on lockdowns and travel restrictions.
There is no doubt that these measures harm the economy, but it has now come to a state where the rampaging virus has to be controlled somehow, especially in the face of the slow arrival of vaccines.
Thus the three-day travel restriction over the weekend was a step in the right direction, apart from the ban on inter-provincial travel.
In fact, not stopping at that, some Governors have called for an inter-district travel ban within their respective provinces. No measure should be ruled out at this precarious stage – including a countrywide lockdown of the sort we witnessed last year, at least for a short period. After all, curbing the free movements of the public is the only way to ensure a break in the virus transmission chain, at least until we manage to inoculate around 70-80 percent of the population and achieve herd immunity.
This is not an impossible target to achieve, if all vaccines ordered by the health authorities come on time. One hiccup is the current shortage of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines, which are needed for the second round inoculation of those who received the first dose back in March and April.
The authorities should explore every avenue to procure the 600,000 doses needed for this purpose, either from India or another manufacturing country.
Now that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and several other countries have approved the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine for 12-17 year olds, our health authorities should also explore the possibility of reserving the five million doses ordered from Pfizer for schoolchildren aged 12 and over.
This will help the education authorities to begin schools much sooner, especially if the teachers are immunised in tandem. However, the health authorities must ensure that rural hospitals and medical facilities are up graded to handle the Pfizer vaccine, which needs ultra-cold storage at -70 Celsius. The authorities should also carefully map out the provinces and areas that should get priority for the vaccines currently in the pipeline – 13 million doses of Sputnik V, around eight million doses from the World Health Organisation (WHO) Covax facility (probably AstraZeneca) and more doses on a commercial basis from Sinopharm and AstraZeneca.
The authorities should also consider purchasing the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which simplifies logistics. They must also keep an eye on other emerging vaccines such as Novavax, Sinovac and Curevac as well as on repurposed Covid treatments such as Ivermectin and Remdesivir.
All-new Covid treatments are also being developed around the world, apart from vaccines. Our universities should enhance their research capabilities vis-à-vis the Coronavirus and its multiple variants and join global efforts to stop the contagion in its tracks.
But in the end, the Government, health sector and Security Forces/Police alone cannot stop this contagion without active public support and cooperation.
Thus we will have to strictly follow health guidelines and lead a “New Normal” life for at least one more year to defeat this unseen pathogen.