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Backup plans if COVID-19 cases increase in WP and Puttalam district
View(s):The plans to open up the Western province and the Puttlam district for normal life from May 11 have been drawn with a backup plan to lockdown sections if required, a senior official said.
Health Ministry Secretary Badhrani Jayawardena told the Sunday Times that the plan was being implemented on a test basis and the government was prepared to lock down certain areas if there was a risk of COVId-19 spreading.
The curfew in the Western Province and the Puttlam district will be effective till 5.00 a.m. on May 11.
In the rest of the country, the curfew will be lifted at 5 am tomorrow and reimposed at 8 p.m on the same day with similar measures until Wednesday. The curfew imposed in these districts on Wednesday will be effective until May 11.
Meanwhile, the curfew has been extended until May 11 in the Western Province and the Puttalam district to ensure that there will be no public gatherings and to strengthen the ground gained in keeping the COVID-19 confirmed cases down, the Sunday Times learns.
“We will get more time to consolidate our efforts in flattening the curve,” said a high-level health official, while another said that the lifting of the curfew from the high-risk areas would be dependent on whether there are positive cases popping up.
Public Health Services Deputy Director-General (DDG) Dr. Paba Palihawadana said the sudden clusters that erupted since April 11 were getting sorted out. It is revealed that people living along Bandaranayake Mawatha, Keselwatte, were now tested negative. There were also no new positives from Suduwella in Ja-ela and the big cluster from the Welisara navy camp was under control.
The other source said that while the decision to lift the curfew on May 11 would depend on new confirmed cases being found just before that, work both in the private and public sectors would be able to resume under guidelines already in place.
He said that the curfew had been extended to prevent public gatherings during these holidays.
Meanwhile, when contacted Consultant Physician Dr. Eranga Narangoda of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) said there was a need to keep down the number of people affected by COVID-19 to enable optimal care in hospitals.
The NIID which initially planned to accommodate 120 COVID-19 patients has now increased that to 140. Yesterday there were 138 COVID-19 patients under treatment at the NIID, of whom eight were to be discharged by evening.
The number of hospitals treating confirmed COVID-19 patients has also been increased. In addition to the NIID, the Colombo East Hospital in Mulleriyawa, the Welikanda Hospital in Polonnaruwa, the Iranawila Hospital in Chilaw and the Homagama Hospital are now treating these patients.