COLOMBO : Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera yesterday said that the partial lifting of the quarantine curfew imposed in the Western Province doesn’t mean the danger of COVID-19 is over and people can continue their daily activities as usual.
Making a special statement yesterday, Dr.Samaraweera said the decision to further isolate several areas within the Colombo Municipality limits was taken in order to bring down the movement to zero and take necessary measures to control the spread of virus since majority of COVID-19 cases currently found in the Colombo District had been identified through these locations.
He further said that the patients with some kind of link with Peliyagoda and Minuwangoda COVID clusters are still reporting from certain areas of the country and majority of cases were reported from Colombo Municipality area.
He said the infected persons were reported from around the country, which means the disease had already spread to all districts in the country.
So the risk is still there around the country.
“However, the success of these measures in combating the transmission of the disease would depend on the degree to which people adhere to the advice given by the health sector,” he said.
The Chief Epidemiologist further stated that a collective effort of all citizens in the country is required to control the spread of COVID-19 since the health sector alone cannot combat it.
“To minimise the transmission of the virus from person to person, physical distancing of at least one meter should be maintained in the community. For that, the public are requested to avoid mass gatherings and to maintain at least 1m distance between two persons at any gathering or in the open.” he added.
