News
Public health inspectors want daily testing increased
06 May, 2021
By Vyshnavy Velrajh
Health authorities have been urged to further increase PCR testing in a bid to curtail the third wave of the coronavirus in Sri Lanka.
Public Health Inspectors (PHI) Association Secretary M. Baalasooriya told Colombo Gazette that PCR tests must be increased to at least 25,000 per day.
He pointed out that there were issues when obtaining PCR test results in a number of areas.
Baalasooriya said the results are being released after nearly 2 or 3 days of testing.
“This is a serious issue, as the gap between testing and revealing of results could pave the way for the virus to be transmitted to more people,” the PHI officer said.
Baalsooriya further highlighted the issue that has arisen with regard to asymptomatic Covid cases currently being detected.
He said a crisis has occurred over whether or not to hospitalise asymptomatic cases, similar to Covid patients with symptoms.
Hospitals are already facing a shortage of bed capacity to treat Covid patients due to the high number of infections being detected daily.
“As a result, the PHI Association has suggested to home quarantine and treat asymptomatic patients,” the PHI Secretary said.
Baalasooriya said a request in this regard will be made from the health authorities to address the issue.
He further warned that it was essential to resolve these issues in order to curtail the spread of the third wave of the coronavirus in Sri Lanka. (Colombo Gazette)
Recommended For You
