We will need to rely on these statistics, despite some concerns about their accuracy. In light of the rising number of positive cases in Sri Lanka since October 5, what exactly about COVID-19 is relevant for our future health and safety?įirst, let us examine available statistics. In the midst of this avalanche of information and misinformation, we need to get our own situation in perspective. These workers have been ostracised in their neighbourhoods, their significant contribution to the economy forgotten, just because the first case identified in the second wave was a garment factory employee. They have been completely overshadowed by “virus-spreading” garment workers of today. Bogey-men of the past, Tamil “terrorists, Muslim “extremists” and Christian “convertors”, each irrationally equated with travel to India, gathering in mosques and churches, were blamed for the first wave. A president, who was hailed a few months ago as being decisive and having everything “under control” the military way, is now blamed for being lax and allowing the virus to spread. Perception and prejudice the Sri Lankan way conquered reality. Rational, factual explanations on the subject were to no avail, such as procedures followed for quarantine of returnees from India and the difficulty in identifying positive but asymptomatic cases. These included the company which discovered the first case testing positive, all garment workers and manufacturers, the president, the government, Indians, etc. Unsourced video clips, WhatsApp forwards, articles and interviews, blamed, in turn and according to inherent prejudices, different players. In Sri Lanka, posts early in this second wave reflected our penchant for playing the blame game. COVID-19 takes priority over most news globally and locally. Meanwhile, the print and electronic media have gone more viral than the virus itself. Hence, the authorities have to balance these lockdowns, which minimise human interactions, with their economic consequences. However, many people, especially poor daily wage earners, have lost access to incomes, nutrition and medicines. Lockdowns in many parts of the world and instructions to avoid crowds, ensure social distancing, wear masks and wash hands, have helped reduce further spread. At the same time, countries are desperately trying to find ways to balance the fight against the spread of COVID-19 with keeping economic activities alive, so that people can have incomes, food, medicines and other basic needs to survive. Today, medical research is being funded to find a vaccine to protect us humans against it. By November 15 2020, two sources of global statistics recorded about 54 million cases and 1.3 million deaths in 220 countries and territories (World Health Organisation (WHO), Worldometer). The first COVID-19 case was detected in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019. While tens of millions have tested positive for this virus, over a million people have suffered and died from it. COVID-19 has caused a calamitous global crisis.
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