Head, NOCPCO Elaborates on Priorities & the Status Quo in Special Meet

" Our 1st priority is to cut down the number of deaths in the country, the second is to reduce its spread in the country, the third is the management of hospitals and the fourth priority is the economy by asking essential staff to contribute to economic prospects. There were management issues in some hospitals with capacity issues as hospital capacity overcrowded. If the hospital capacity exceeds, the surplus should be transferred to another since clear directions to that effect had been issued as per directions of HE the President about the Patient Management System. So, we all including DG Health Services are doing our best to implement it," so remarked General Shavendra Silva, Head, National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, addressing one more session of the Task Force of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) this afternoon (19) at the NOCPCO in Rajagiriya.

" After Sunday meeting, we have planned to manage the patients under three categories. Those with breathing and serious issues, those having fever with less severity compared to the first category and those positive but without symptoms. We have planned to initiate this strategy first in the Western Province and move into other areas. A Media Release with details has already been issued. So we can categorize all cases and carry out treatment practices. An online call centre has now been activated under the supervision of experts and we are trying our best to reduce the numbers seeking admission to the hospitals, " he pointed out.

As directions given by HE the President, we started vaccination process. Up to now, we have received 19.7m of five types of doses and completed the vaccination of 14.97m doses with those who had received both doses, amounting to some 5 million. Accordingly 43% of the population has received either one vaccine or both as of now. He also highlighted the implications of imposition of several restrictions that were effected last Friday. "There are some speculations going around the country more than the speed of the transmission of the virus in social media. " When we go through the death rate, it was found that most of the dead personnel had not taken even a single dose of the vaccine. For example, we had 160 deaths on 13th August and all of them had not taken any vaccine. Death rate as well as positive cases is reaching its peak compared to the figures in the last 1 and half year. Still we are doing 19,000 PCR tests and 25,000 plus rapid antigen tests every day, " General Shavendra Silva added.

" Even though we have vaccination centres, we find some are not willing to come to the vaccination centres. So, we launched mobile vaccination centres also through the Army, in which we facilitate and prioritize 60+ people and those with different health issues and complications and the mobile fleet has also gone to Gampaha and Kalutara districts to expedite the vaccination project, " General Silva said.

Director General Health Services, Dr Asela Gunawardene and other attendees also joined the discussion and aired out their opinions and concerns, etc.

Source: www.army.lk