The Leader of the United National Party, Parliamentarian Ranil Wickramasinghe states that the country should be locked down for another week or two.
The government has already locked down the country for 10 days to control the virus, but it is not enough to curb the current spread of the virus, Ranil Wickramasinghe said in a special statement.
Following is the full statement made by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe today (26) regarding the Kovid 19 epidemic.
Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera who called on Samantha Power, Head of the United States Agency for USAID (USAID) to request for a vaccine in Sri Lanka has already succumbed to Covid. Many of the people we know, including R.Rajamahendran, President. Counsels Mrs. Gauri Thawarasa and Mr. D.S Wijesinghe have died in the face of the Covid pandemic.
The pandemic is spreading rapidly throughout the country today. As the number of people getting vaccinated increases, so does the number of people infected with Covid disease. Covid deaths, which stood at 5,000 at the beginning of August, could be seen to be close to 8,000 by the end of the month. In these few weeks, Covid’s death toll rose to 3,000.
Problems have also arisen in the statistics of cases of Covid infections. A group of late-reported infections was recently added to the statistics at once. Accordingly, the number of Covid infections reported daily in the country has exceeded 5,000.
The rapid spread of Covid infection must be stopped. The only way to stop the emergence of new patients is to lock down the country. The government has closed the country for 10 days. According to medical advice, it is not enough. If we want to achieve our true objective, we have to go for another two weeks to close the country. Therefore, I urge the responsible parties to reconsider this matter at this juncture.