COLOMBO: Sri Lanka cannot afford a further lockdown, State Minister of Money, Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal says.
In a tweet, Cabraal said the country cannot afford a lockdown, citing reasons that half the population not being able to face its fallout, 4.5 million persons in small and medium sized enterprises being driven to despair and macro fundamentals being seriously compromised.
He emphasized that the country must be kept open and functioning.
Moreover, Cabraal states that the long-term economic damage will be widespread, however strict restrictions must be imposed against COVID-19.
According to report from the Economynext,” With nearly 90 percent of samples sequenced confirmed to be the deadly delta variant, extending Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 lockdown to September 18 and October 2 will save 7,500 and 10,000 lives respectively at an economic cost of 1.9 percent and 2.2 percent of GDP, an expert report said.
Drawing from a projection model by the Monash University in Australia, an independent group of experts convened by World Health Organisation (WHO) Sri Lanka on the island nation’s COVID-19 situation highlighted an urgent need to extend stringency measures with strong enforcement and household compliance.”