Ranil recommends extension of lockdown, as situation worsens

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe today (26) called the government to extend the lockdown according to medical advice,  as the number of deaths and cases of COVID-19 continued to rise.

Mr Wickremesinghe in a statement said he was recommending to the Government, the President, the Prime Minister, and the Cabinet of Ministers to  extend the lockdown.

His call came as the Government was set to take a decision whether the lockdown should be extended on Friday after meeting of the COVID-19 control committee.

Mr Wickremesinghe explained the gravity of the situation pointing out that the infected persons are on the rise.

“On Monday and Tuesday, six people I knew passed away due to COVID-19. There is a rapid spread of COVID. The number of deaths came up to five thousand (5,000) on August 7, twenty (20) days later by the end of this day it will be eight thousand (8,000). Three thousand (3,000) deaths have taken place in twenty (20) days. That is a high rate, the number of people affected will be about fifty thousand (50,000).

The epidemiology unit has said that there have been late entries, so they will have to revise these numbers by about four thousand (4,000). This means that the statistics are also being questioned.”

He said that it is known that there is a rapid spread of COVID, and  measures need to be taken to  prevent that.

“What is happening at the moment is deal with those who are already infected, then if we stop the rapid spread then we can reduce the number of those infected and control it. The Government declared a ten-day lockdown for this purpose. This has received everyone’s support, but according to medical advice this is not a sufficient period. Another week to two (2) weeks are required”, he said.

Mr Wickremesinghe commenting on the economic situation and the impact said, “the other side of it is the economic damage that can be caused by a lockdown, but today we have reached a point where the damage caused by a lockdown is far less than the damage caused by not having a lockdown. The remedy for this is to immediately go to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to get assistance. Already we have received US $720 million from the IMF for our COVID control campaign.”

The UNP leader recommending an extension of the lockdown said “Just as much as we have supported the lockdown for ten days, I am sure that the whole country will support a further lockdown in accordance with medical advice.”

Meanwhile expert medical groups and professionals have called for a strict lockdown saying that the lockdown currently enforced was not effective enough.

On Wednesday (25), 198 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported.