People’s behaviour paramount to contain virus

By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe
Renewed COVID-19 outbreaks in South Korea, China and Germany are proof that there could be prolonged risks of the deadly virus.  Although Singapore was one of the first countries to be applauded for containing the virus, a second wave of infections soon emerged from cramped migrant dormitories in the outskirts of the city states. In an earlier instance Health Services Director General Dr. Anil Jasinghe opined that it’s illogical to think that a viral infection could be completely eradicated. He further said that any country infected by the Coronavirus should take steps to control the pandemic to a satisfactory level. 

As such, officials working in the frontlines including doctors, nurses, public health inspectors, police and armed forces are trying to bring infected cases to a bare minimum. “There’s no magic to control the virus other than following the fundamental rules including social distancing, washing hands, disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and so on,” said Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, Chief Epidemiologist at Health Ministry’s Epidemiology Unit. “If people do not follow these rules it’s highly likely to have a second wave of infections. This could be through asymptomatic persons. This is why we adviced the government to gradually relax curfew restrictions rather than doing it all at once. The risk is there and therefore people’s behaviour is paramount to contain the virus.”  he said. 

So far, a cumulative count of 915 cases has been reported while 382 cases have recovered. More cases are emerging from the Navy cluster but around 62 Navy officials have recovered so far.