Speak in one voice

TV footages days ago showed Police personnel in their Personal Protective equipment (PPE) forcibly carrying people who have allegedly violated the quarantine law on streets to the buses, before they were transported to the police stations. They might have thought that doing so before TV cameras would discourage such people from breaching the law. 

No person carried to the buses was seen protesting, they just allowed the police to carry them to the buses. Then why should the police personnel carry them? At most the police could hold them by hand and take them to the buses.  The purpose seems to be to humiliate them in public in order to discourage them from violating the law. The intention might be sincere but the way it is put in practice seems to be disparaging.

All those who are without masks on the streets cannot be deemed to be rogues or stubborn law violators, There might be genuine issues or compulsions, as one man without a mask in one footage begged saying he was going to buy a mask. That may be true or sometimes a ploy. What if it is true? The purpose must be to persuade them to follow the rule and not to insult them. If they are to be punished, let them be produced in courts.

People cannot always be blamed for violating quarantine law or for that matter for spreading the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the country during the Sinhala and Hindu New Year period, as the education level, discipline and compulsions to go out vary from person to person. That is why the governments are supposed to implement lockdowns, curfews and various other travel restrictions and health instructions which must be proportionate to the situation.True, people must be persuaded, since they are not health experts or serious; but they should not be humiliated.

And people cannot be blamed for the current situation, specifically for the third wave of COVID 19 outbreak in Sri Lanka. Health authorities warned about a new wave prior to the Sinhala and Hindu New Year, but their warnings were not heeded by the other relevant authorities. As the President of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya recently observed “The danger was not conveyed to the public. No restrictions were imposed and this is one of the main reasons why we are facing this situation today.”

It goes without saying that the economy which is already in the doldrums would further be shattered with any degree of closure of the country. Nevertheless, if the need of a lower degree of closure is ignored a higher degree would be needed later to face the situation since the new variants of coronavirus are said to be more potent and rapid. That is what Dr. Padeniya points out, taking the New Year period as an example. Politicians, though they are ultimately responsible for the economy, cannot unilaterally decide the measures that are needed to contain the pandemic. The health authorities in Kesbewa area recently pointed out the consequences of political interference in health measures in the area. 

Educating the masses is one of the most important measures that are to be taken. However, too many cooks seem to spoil the broth. Every day, we are listening to sermons of about ten persons –Director General of Health Services, Deputy Director General of Health Services, police spokesman, two government spokesmen, three ministers in charge of health related affairs, Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) and the head of the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry – about travel restrictions and vaccines. 

Yet, complaints are being heard that the current travel restrictions are not clear. Politicians are claiming that the second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine could be administered even six months after the first shot, which is none of their business. Various politicians are forecasting about importation of various brands of vaccines separately, without giving an overall picture.

The pandemic preparedness, prevention and educating the masses must go hand in hand while the relevant authorities speaking in one voice. Public must be aware as to what is in store for them in respect of prevention and preparedness, so that they could adjust themselves to it.