Sri Lanka needs to work together to prevent a 3rd wave of COVID-19

By Roger Talayaratne

The second wave is here, and it makes me ask the question what happened to the much spoken of ‘new normal’? Although there were many who spoke much about it as a conversation point and a topic for webinars the reality has arisen, people moved back to the ‘old normal’ before the dust settled, and this is why...

A lockdown creates an artificial environment what I like to call a bubble. Yes the process effectively isolates the virus, curbs its spread and creates a temporarily safe environment like a bubble, but outside the bubble COVID rages and at a point will get in and lockdowns don’t address the root cause.

When people come out of a lockdown they had been protected from the reality of the infectious nature of the pandemic and temporarily saw that there are no cases of COVID patients around, so they perceive it, as if the virus doesn’t exist anymore and threw caution to the wind. They spoke ‘new normal’ but lived in the same old ways, shaking hands, minimal or no social distancing, attending every function, with occasional cleansing of hands, masks on their chin or with no sanitiser in their pockets. So in case you are wondering who to blame for the second wave, when the virus found a loophole to creep in, the Sri Lankan people threw a red carpet for it to enter and cripple the nation through our behaviours. We all experienced this and now face the second wave. 

So what happens next? Do we lockdown again? And what kind of an outcome will that bring? It will create yet another bubble which will again pop in a few months and the type of cycle destroys the economy of a country. It’s like repeatedly bending back and forth a piece of metal or plastic until it breaks. 

Businesses and investors don’t want to expand and invest during a lockdown and as soon as it’s lifted they want to further evaluate the situation then when they are about to make a decision to move forward, the bubble bursts and another wave starts. This vicious cycle paralyses the economy, small businesses cannot cope and shut down, whilst larger businesses go into survival mode and try to keep its operational expenditure at a minimum to compensate the low revenue, leading to job cuts, which further takes away money circulation, as families tighten their belts and cut expenditure furthermore, resulting in even less money circulation in the economy. The conclusion is obvious, the economy cannot take repeated lockdowns.

The Government recognising this has changed its approach by trying to keep the country open for as long as possible, shutting down pockets and reopening them when things settle, forcing people to realise the gravity of the pandemic and experience reality and learn how to adapt to it. Our people, business in our country and the economy require this from each of us. Every Sri Lankan citizen and every business leader operating in the country needs to take a responsible stand. We need to fight COVID together as a nation and not think this to be a problem the Government needs to solve. Every single non-compliant behaviour on the part on any person leads to exposing the whole nation to further risk and an opportunity for COVID-19 to retain dominance over us. Familiarity between co-workers and friends makes people have false confidence and make them assume that the friends and co-workers are COVID-free and masks are not kept on and social distance not maintained; this has become the biggest flaw in our individual protection system. Every person needs to understand the illusive nature of the virus in that no one has immunity whether friend or foe and each person needs take precautions and demand precaution form those around them. 

To start with, non-compliance should not be tolerated and the society should enforce it in addition to the Government. Whistle blowing hot lines should be put in place for violators, with new legislation to bring in zero tolerance. Finally where we are now, we need to know that the ‘new normal’ is not new anymore nor is it an option. We as a country and a people need to decide if we are going to keep taking the painful blows of this pandemic or take a stand together with everyone committed and fight this pandemic changing our ways to adapt to a lifestyle that leaves little or no room for COVID-19. I choose the former to the later, how about you?