Gampaha District Director of Regional Health Services Dr. Nalin Ariyaratne stated yesterday (06) that about 400 people in the Gampaha District who have been diagnosed with coronavirus through PCR tests have not been able to seek medical treatment and have been staying in their homes and hostels for several days. A news item was posted on the Neth website.
According to the report, this was due to the lack of ambulances, medical treatment centers and hospitals to transport the infected.
He had also stated that the results of 6,866 PCR tests conducted in the Health Officer’s Divisions in the Gampaha District have not been received so far.
While the situation in Gampaha was similar, it was reported from the Matale area that many people infected with Kovid were at home. Earlier too, the Commander of the Army had introduced a special short telephone number stating that if Kovid was at home, he should call that number. However, due to the increasing number of patients being admitted to hospitals day by day, patients have to stay at home.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Epidemiology Unit, Dr. Sudath Samaraweera told the media at a media briefing yesterday (06) that if it is confirmed that a person is infected with Kovid, they should stay at home and be hospitalized as soon as possible.
He says that when between 1,500 and 1,900 cases are reported a day, it takes some time to get them to the hospital immediately, because this is not an immediate matter.
He points out that men and women have to be separated and it has to be decided which hospital they should be admitted to and then they have to go to the patient’s house and transport them to the hospital.
Dr. Sudath Samaraweera says that there could be some kind of delay in certain places during this big operation and that there should be no panic or fear at home.
Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Minister of State for Kovid Disease Control, said that although approximately 2,000 Kovid patients are reported daily, there may be another 2,000 patients in the community who have not been tested for PCR and have no symptoms.
She points out that this is a risky situation as it can grow to 8000 in a week, so be aware of this risk and be careful.