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Virus fears block passage home for helpless thousands
Thousands stranded in the capital city Colombo are pleading to return to their homes because money and essentials are rapidly evaporating, but officials insist they should stay in place.
Vasantha Thushanthan of Aawela, Nuwera Eliya, came to Colombo three years ago to work as a sales representative in a leading ceramic showroom in Colombo but the coronavirus that began spreading in the country made survival a struggle for him.
He and five of his friends are lodging in a room in the suburbs of Nawala.
“We are trying to manage by pooling our money to buy supplies. If this situation continues for another two weeks, I don’t know how this would go as we won’t get our salaries,” Thusanthan told the Sunday Times, while stressing that if the government had announced the curfew earlier they would have gone home to their families. Inter-provincial transport is banned.
According to Acting Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Deshabandu Tennakoon, at least 43,000 stranded in the Western province have registered with the police in the hope of going home.
He said sending them home could pose virus risks.
The President has ordered the governor of the Western province to provide relief.
Meanwhile, DIG Ajith Rohana, said thousands are stranded across the island in temporary shelters, some are with friends and relatives.
“This is not a problem in the Western province alone but also in other major cities where people who were travelling for various purposes were stranded,” DIG Rohana said while emphasizing that there are people stuck in Anuradhapura wanting to go to their houses in Monaragala.
In Monaragala, so far, there have not been any infections, and DIG Rohana argued that if a person infected is allowed to go, the virus could spread.
Influential medical professional bodies and health care trade unions expressed concerns this week as the government explored the possibilities of making arrangements to send those who are stranded in Colombo to their residences after being quarantined.
Upul Rohana, president of Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) Union of Sri Lanka, told the Sunday Times that those stranded should undergo a two-week quarantine and then be tested for the virus before they are sent home. Even after they reach their homes, they would have to undergo a self quarantine for another two weeks under the watch of respective PHIs and Medical Officers of Health (MOHs).
Another measure recommended to the government is to set up temporary quarantine centres in every Divisional Secretariat with coronavirus testing capabilities.
On Thursday, the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) in a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa condemned the Health Ministry’s decision to stop quarantining persons moving from district to district and requested the directive be revoked.
In a circular no. EPID/400/2019NCOV of April 8, 2020 the government has decided to allow people to pass through a district without any quarantine.
The GMOA said that this could jeopardise the exit strategy adopted to contain the coronavirus. People moving from district to district and provinces have been quarantined by the public health staff of those areas.
The government has decided not to send them to their homes, but is collecting details to provide them with dry rations during their stay in Colombo.
In Jaffna, over 2,500 who are stranded registered with the District Secretariat in hopes of returning to their homes.
Jaffna District Secretary, Kanapathipillai Mahesan, said most of them came for medical purposes and employment and the secretariat is awaiting decisions from Colombo.
Shanmuganathan Janakan, an electrical technician who has been working in a construction site in Jaffna told the Sunday Times that he got medical certificates from PHI and MOH but his attempts to leave Jaffna failed.
“Getting cooked food is the main issue here. Some journalists visited us recently and gave some supplies with the assistance of NGOs. We don’t know how long this will go on. I would like to be with the family now,” Janakan said.