What the front-line services, authorities & the tri forces are doing together to help save lives should be appreciated with gratitude. Even when it’s compared with the global vaccination campaigns running in the developed countries, Sri Lanka is doing absolutely amazing with the level of focus & express speed the vaccination campaigns are running at reaching thousands of people every day across many locations island-wide. But it’s also important to notice that an idea is emerging that makes this terrible situation even more dangerous as people are starting to get delusional about the Corona Virus. They’re assuming the virus is not a big deal & becoming more & more comfortable with the new normal believing you could just live with it & survive the epidemic just because you don’t get symptoms.

The truth is every single individual who’s exposed to a runaway virus like Corona eventually become a part of an uncontrollable community spread that keeps growing at an exponential rate putting more & more innocent people in danger & costing them their life & the unbearable pain of losing their family & friends.

Runaway virus is characterized by its highly infectious rate & its ability to create a stream of new variants which will be even more fatal & probably unresponsive to any vaccines or medication. The Delta variant has put the country back on its feet with our people dying at a rate & getting sick in numbers every day.

Sri Lanka right now is lost in a conundrum that reminds me of the ancient Greek mythology Scylla and Charybdis. It narrates a story of great Greek sailors navigating their ships maintaining a safe distance from two monsters without getting too closer to either of them. Now it seems like Sri Lanka is getting too close to one monster obsessed with saving the economy while the lives of its people are at stake. What every decision-maker needs to understand is that the people should be alive first for an economy to exist & saving human lives should be the priority here, just nothing else. If effective preventive measures & strict restrictions are not imposed to control the spread, these days will add an irrevocable black mark on Sri Lankan history as the most politically failed chapter.

The relaxed stance on the interprovincial or inter-district travel restriction will do nothing better, as the people involved in essential services, community services, daily wage workers & influential people will manage to cross borders. Hence this is an all or none situation where Sri Lanka needs to decide intuitively & act quickly if they’re going to save the economy letting thousands of people die or save more people by compromising on the economical balance.

I believe we must put aside our political views & stop playing the blame game on any individual or institution but try to evaluate this chaotic situation from a professional standpoint. So, my professional opinion is we should immediately lock down the whole country for two weeks first & decide what to do next based on a comprehensive assessment & expert advice. It’s already late but I urge the responsible parties to make the best decision for the country. Let’s be individually responsible for our own safety & help Sri Lanka recover soon!