Growing public health concerns in SL

Sri Lanka is seeing a resurgence of cases of SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) related respiratory conditions along with a massive surge in the cases of chikungunya and dengue fever. Added to this, there are also the other forms of seasonal influenza going around.

According to the Ministry of Health, data from the World Health Organization (WHO), a global increase in the activity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, has been reported since February 2025. Based on the International Respiratory Surveillance System, several countries, including Sri Lanka have seen a notable rise in COVID-19 cases in recent months.

In May 2023, the WHO officially declared the end of the COVID-19 global pandemic status but it is a known phenomenon for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to undergo genetic mutations during its transmission. The currently circulating variant reported in many countries in 2024 has been identified as a sub-lineage of a previously known genetic variant. In 2024, this same variant was detected in Sri Lanka as well. According to Sri Lanka’s Respiratory Surveillance System, during 2024, 3% of respiratory specimens tested for SARS-CoV-2 yielded positive results. This figure peaked at 9.6% in May 2024. The average positivity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus so far this year is approximately 2%, with a slight increase observed at present.

Thus, an increase in reported COVID-19 cases was observed in May 2024 and again in May 2025. However, according to WHO, no definitive conclusions have yet been reached regarding future transmission patterns of the virus while observation and research-based monitoring are still in progress. Although the Health Ministry stated that there is no need to panic, it is important for people to be cautious and take precautions like they did during the 2020 pandemic outbreak. Some State institutions have already instructed their employees to wear face masks as a precautionary measure against the potential spread of Influenza and COVID-19 though the Health Ministry has been giving conflicting reports on whether people should mask up or not.

Overall, the Government has not been forthcoming about the public health situation in the country with Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa playing down concerns regarding the spread of the chikungunya or dengue fever.The situation in Colombo and the suburbs with regard to the spread of chikungunya has reached a very high level but health authorities refuse to divulge details of the cases recorded; but not addressing the problem directly will not make it go away.

Both the United States and Britain recently issued updated travel advisories, warning their citizens against visiting Sri Lanka due to the rising number of chikungunya cases in the country. Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office has included chikungunya as a “health risk” travellers would face in Sri Lanka while the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warned people who are planning to travel to the Indian Ocean region to enhance precautions against chikungunya.

The real problem may not be foreign tourists not travelling to Sri Lanka but the toll it is taking on the local population. Many hundreds who have been infected with chikungunya are left suffering for months with their productivity declining sharply as they take weeks to recover. This could affect the financial stability of families and lead to more impoverishment in a country where people are struggling economically.

So far, the preventive programs for chikungunya and dengue have not been satisfactory with the Public Health Inspectors (PHI)s not carrying out any of the precautionary programs such as checks for mosquito-breeding sites or spraying mosquito repellents in neighbourhoods where many cases of the disease have been reported.

And on top, with the increase in the number of COVID cases, health authorities need to step up and take precautionary measures while dispensing the proper advice to the public so that they can keep themselves safe. Prevention as they say is better than cure and hence it’s important to prioritise measures to tackle the multiple public health challenges that the people are up against.