Pandemic preparedness

As COVID-19 infection rates continue to climb the Government is reluctantly facing reality. Yet there is a worrying absence of details on what steps are being taken, and an asymmetry in legal action taken against those offending healthcare guidelines. 

Two key concerns occupying public minds is the limited number of intensive care facilities available in the country and concerns that oxygen supplies are running low. The Government has repeatedly assured the public that measures were being taken to scale up ICU beds but when asked for details Government Ministers have been strangely reluctant to give up numbers. 

For decades Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector has been underfunded and under-resourced with most Budget allocations used for recurrent expenditure. Intensive care facilities are also largely concentrated in urban areas or the Western Province. This gap in services has been highlighted numerous times, especially given Sri Lanka’s aging population, but little has been done to bridge it. 

COVID-19 is disinclined to be limited by these concerns and there are fears that if infection rates keep increasing public hospitals will be overwhelmed. So serious have the concerns become that the main Opposition has requested international organisations set up a mobile hospital with 300 beds that will also have intensive care capacity. 

Ministers and other officials have to step up and proactively share measures with the public. If there are bottlenecks in the preparation it is far better for the public to be aware of these shortcomings in advance than to risk a healthcare crisis. The public health sector should also consider immunising and supporting the private healthcare segment to provide COVID-19 treatment as a backup option if the public system is overwhelmed.   

This Government has typically been on the front foot when it comes to public relations. But they are struggling on two fronts. One is stubbornly sticking to the illusion of clusters when there is clear evidence of community transmission. The second is turning a blind eye to elites blatantly breaching COVID-19 guidelines.   

On Wednesday Jaffna Police arrested two chief priests of the Jaffna Sri Kamatchi Amman Kovil in Vannarpannai on charges of conducting a Theru Festival without following any social distancing guidelines. Arrests were made after photos of the festival went viral on social media. However, just days prior photos of a Nuwara Eliya horse racing event also went viral for failing to follow COVID-19 guidelines but those organisers did not face arrest. This lop sided implementation of the law is in stark contrast to many other countries around the world who have even fined Prime Ministers for failing to wear face masks (Thailand) and hosting parties at home. 

Selective application of laws is one of the main reasons why the public have lost faith in Sri Lanka’s judicial system. The pandemic is only highlighting problems of governance and unequal distribution of resources that have existed for decades. However, the public resentment such short-sighted actions unleash could well outlast the pandemic. These are crucial days for the Government and it needs to stand up to scrutiny. Lives are on the line and the ultimate test may just be on the horizon.