Life in Nuwara Eliya Disrupted

Public health officials in Nuwara Eliya are seen conducting awareness programmes

With the discovery of the 34th active Covid-19 positive patient in Sri Lanka, the municipal council of Nuwara Eliya is taking preventive measures and raising awareness seriously. Although the government declared Monday (16) a public holiday, all the essential services including health and other services as well as wholesale and retail shops had been requested to function as per usual. The usual vacationers you see during this time of the year were a rare sight owing to the current circumstances, but the locals seemed to be going about their daily routine. Main attractions within the Nuwara Eliya town such as Gregory’s Lake, Victoria Park and various other places that are known crowd favourites were closed for business, barring a handful of retail shops and eateries. 

With the spread of the Covid-19 virus, public gatherings were suspended for the next two weeks as recommended by the authorities. Although tourism is the lifeline of Nuwara Eliya, most hotels and guest houses were reluctant to accept guests, and have thus closed their doors.   

“More than 200,000 local and foreign tourists visit the town on a daily basis. We had expected more crowds, especially this season. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide, we are not looking forward to having so many people in the city,” a hotel owner from Nuwara Eliya told the Daily Mirror.   

^{Quarantine process in Nuwara Eliya} 

Speaking with the Daily Mirror, an official from the Nuwara Eliya municipal council, health unit quipped that the virus seemed to have spread faster through social media than through human contact. On a more serious he noted that it wasn’t very wise to contribute to the panic.   

The official who wished to remain anonymous said that, within the town limits, health officials had identified eight patients suspected of  Covid-19. They were identified as locals who had recently arrived in the island from various countries.   

“The suspected patients had symptoms like cough and cold. They were immediately admitted to the hospital to get the necessary tests and checkups done. They have been discharged from the hospital because their symptoms gradually reduced,” the official said. All eight patients who have been discharged from the hospitals are currently self-quarantined, said the official.   

He further stated “we will be continuing regular home visits in order to keep track of their progress as well as the situation.” As self quarantine is the most important element when it comes to prevention measures he emphasised on how important it is to raise awareness amongst the public.   

“The Nuwara Eliya municipal council is being as diligent as it can when it comes to the self quarantine programme. We are maintaining records of the progress of these individuals who had arrived in Nuwara Eliya from other countries,” the official said.

A screening centre at the Nuwara Eliya Hospital

He further said that authorities had taken measures to deploy five teams of Army officers, officials from the Environmental Police Unit and Health Unit from the municipal council in order to conduct the quarantine programme within the town.   

“The local population of Nuwara Eliya is 35,000 but since this is a known tourist destination, over 200,000 foreign and local tourists arrive here every weekend. It’s important to keep track on them as well. We made sure that all the public spaces within the town limits were closed off temporarily in order to minimise the chance of spreading the virus. We also noted that there is a gradual decrease in the arrival of tourists,” he said.   

Meanwhile, speaking to the Daily Mirror the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) in Bogawantalawa, J. Ganesh said, “Ten locals who had arrived from Qatar and Saudi Arabia are currently self-quaratined in their homes.” They showed no symptoms of Covid-19. However, the health officials in Bogawantalawa have kept them in check.   

If the symptoms aren’t as serious then we direct them to the necessary MOH and they will be quarantined at home

Dr. Mahendra Senavirthana

The Director of the District General Hospital Nuwara Eliya, Dr. Mahendra Seneviratne said, “Since Nuwara Eliya is an area which relies on tourism, there are a lot of people around. There are three separate screening centres within the Nuwara Eliya hospital premises alone,” he explained. According to Dr. Seneviratne, depending on the symptoms the patients are directed to these screening centres. The security officers dispense face masks to those who show symptoms as soon as they enter the hospital premises as well.   

There are only three entry points to the hospital, the OPDs, the emergency unit and the clinics. Our staff has been advised to direct suspected patients to the relevant screening centres. If by any chance we do find someone with Covid-19 symptoms, we isolate them and send them to one of our isolation centres in Nuwara Eliya or Badulla to be quarantined.   

“There was one such case on Monday. If the symptoms aren’t as serious then we direct them to the necessary MOH and they will be quarantined at home. The MOH meanwhile keeps track of their recovery as well as the situation,” the director said.  

Commercial flower cultivators have been affected by this development

Victoria Park, closed for visitors

Farmers lament of less sales this season

Small businesses being affected 

Daily Mirror observed that entrepreneurs and their businesses within the town have also been affected due to the spread of Covid-19. 

S.K.N. Dinesha and Sakunthala Nimeshani

Dinesha and Sakunthala work at a small flower shop attached to the department of co-orperative development in the Nuwara Eliya Bambarakele Road. They said that the spread of Covid 19 has had a huge impact on their business.   

“The number of customers has decreased, partially because of the public holidays that have been declared in the country because of the current situation. Compared with the customers we had in January this year, the situation right now is the complete opposite,” they said.   

They further said that the hotels and guest houses in Nuwara Eliya also seem to have taken a hit, given the situation and that it was hard to commence business. 

The number of customers has decreased, partially because of the public holidays that have been declared in the country

P. Ganesh

Ganesh is an employee at a vegetable shop in Nuwara Eliya, which has a chain of five small vegetable shops alongside the Nuwara Eliya – Peradeniya Road. 

Vegetables sold in these small roadside shops come from small farmers in and around Nuwara Eliya. With the spread of Covid-19, farmers and shop owners have had to face hardships given that their only means of income has been halted.   

“As it is an essential service to provide raw food for the people we are opening our business centres daily but people haven’t been coming to the town because of Coronavirus fears as well as the public holidays. Our business is very low these days and we have no idea on how to continue this,” he said. 

There has been a drastic drop in the number of visitors to Nuwara Eliya and it goes without saying that it has had a direct impact on the livelihood of small business owners in the town, ultimately impacting the economy of Sri Lanka as a whole.

Our business is very low these days and we have no idea on how to continue this