12 February 2021 04:15 pm Views - 2464
While saying that the Health Ministry has nothing much to do with regard to detection of new variant from several areas, Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said the Ministry was keen in taking necessary steps considering the situation to ensure people are safeguarded.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Dr. Herath said the Director General of Health Services would issue relevant circulars very soon to introduce changes to any of the current guideline if necessary.
However, he said all these issues arose due to unavoidable circumstances, where people were moving freely from place to place.
“One could argue that as to why the authorities didn’t impose any restrictions. If we imposed lockdown in certain areas, that would vehemently affect the daily income earners,” he said.
“We tried our best not to impose restrictions but continually requested people to strictly adhere to health guidelines. However, this didn’t happen. As a result, we are facing all these problems,” he stressed.
Moreover, Dr. Herath said there are no specific ways the Health Ministry could control the prevailing situation and added it is the people who should take responsibility to their hands and make sure the virus is not transmitted to one another.
Speaking further to the Daily Mirror, he said, the possibility that the new variant had entered the country through tourists was still unlikely and added further inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the concrete reason for it.
“Tourists were hardly seen in the areas from where the new variant was detected. Hence, one cannot say the virus was brought to Sri Lanka by tourists,” he underlined. (Sheain Fernandopulle)