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‘I have not been in hiding I am very much here,’ says Dr. Padeniya
Dr. Padeniya
“I have not disappeared and I have not been in hiding. I am very much here,” the President of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya who is in home quarantine for 14 days, told the Sunday Times last afternoon responding to criticism that he was avoiding public health officials after having a party at his house.
Dr. Padeniya said that he, his wife and three children are in self-quarantine in their home at Kelaniya till January 21 having undergone both RT-PCR and RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) which proved negative after a doctor who attended the party was found to have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
The President of the GMOA which is in the forefront of the campaign to combat the virus said “I held a small dinner for one of my juniors, a Medical Officer (MO), who was going on transfer to the Avissawella Hospital and other doctors in my unit on January 7 at my home”. He said that they did not go to a hotel, neither did they bring in outside caterers, nor did they hold a sing-song that evening.
He reiterated that all those who came to the dinner had been in the “same bubble” with him at work at Ward 25 of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo. There were about 17 to 20 including his immediate family.
“It was a simple farewell treat and we all work together. They are my ward doctors,” he said.
When the doctor tested positive after going to Avissawella, that Public Health Inspector (PHI) had informed the Kelaniya Medical Officer of Health (MOH) who sent a PHI to his home around 7.45 p.m. on January 13.
“I was not at home, but they could have called me. Both my phones were on and there were no missed calls. I got to know the situation through the media which splashed a story that I was in hiding,” says Dr. Padeniya, adding that all the others in their group have also tested negative.