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COVID death toll tops 5000; Govt. says stay at home
The Government yesterday issued a set of stringent advisories that call upon the people to limit their travel outside their homes, unless for urgent business, refrain from attending weddings, funerals and other festivities and get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible.
These advisories issued by the Government Information Department however fell short of any formal lockdown and included wearing a mask in public places, refraining from being with crowds in rooms, lifts and vehicles.
On Friday, the health authorities issued fresh guidelines for weddings and funerals.
The advisory was issued as the number of COVID-19 cases was rising with the death toll exceeding the 5,000 mark last night. Yesterday 98 more deaths and 2,796 cases of COVID-19 were reported, raising the death toll to 5,017 and the number of infected people to 326,043 so far. Meanwhile, major state hospitals in Colombo are battling to deal with an influx of COVID-19 positive patients. Health Services Director-General Dr. Asela Gunawardene told the Sunday Times that a plan was being implemented to enable hospitals to manage the surge of COVID-19 positive patients at this critical juncture, as they were reaching a tipping point.
The Sunday Times found that the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) was having around 500 COVID-19 positive patients.
Many other wards were being “acquired” to meet this dire need, while patients who were getting admitted for other illnesses were also testing positive.
The Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama, which had all of its 250 COVID beds occupied, has taken over another 100 beds which would soon be functional, after some adjustments, to meet this unprecedented demand. The 80-bed ICC which it runs was also full-up.
“Even though we are nearing a tipping point, the decision to give home-based care to asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic positive pateints has eased the load a little bit,” said a source at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila.
Two more wards have been acquired to supplement the 200-odd bed capacity for positive patients at Kalubowila hospital which also has a state-of-the-art 20-bed high dependency unit with a large tank supplying life-giving oxygen. The hospital is awaiting another oxygen tank.
The Gampaha District General Hospital was also filled to capacity with COVID-19 patients, the Sunday Times understands, like numerous hospitals across the country. The Gampaha Hospital has 22 beds for patients needing critical care; 50 beds with wall oxygen and another 50 beds for normal COVID care.