Open AccessCurrent Experience and Future Challenges of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka: An Auto-Ethnographic Study
Author(s) -
Savithiri Ratnapalan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
public health open access
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2578-5001
DOI - 10.23880/phoa-16000173
Subject(s) - contact tracing , quarantine , pandemic , public health , narrative , test (biology) , medicine , economic growth , sri lanka , political science , business , covid-19 , public relations , environmental health , socioeconomics , nursing , sociology , disease , economics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , tanzania , pathology , biology
Purpose: Sri Lanka a Lower Middle Income Country (LMIC) has focussed mainly on public health measures to contain COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this paper is to describe the efforts undertaken in Sri Lanka to manage COVID-19 pandemic and to learn from shared experiences. Methods: This study was conducted as an auto-ethnographic study. Narrative accounts of key team members of Sri Lanka’s pandemic management teams were synthesized into a master narrative. Results: Authors’ experiences are described below under the following themes: Surveillance and public health actions, test, isolate and trace strategy, infection prevention and control strategy, communication strategies and challenges. Sri Lanka adopted a screen and quarantine policy for all arrivals after the first patient and identified high risk areas. Polymerase-ChainReaction (PCR) testing capacity was achieved rapidly. All potential patients were tested and isolated if positive regardless of symptoms. Aggressive contact tracing was undertaken, Hospitals and other institutions were remodified to accommodate and isolate all COVID-19 positive cases. Quarantine centers were created when home quarantine was unsatisfactory and mobility restrictions were placed and expanded as lockdowns or curfews. Communication channels were developed for healthcare workers, other public sectors and the community. Extensive collaboration and community support helped to mitigate some of the challenges. Conclusion: Sri Lanka was able to confine COVID-19 to population clusters using the ‘test, isolate and trace’ policy. There is concern regarding the long term feasibility of this policy, the economic impact of lockdowns and the threat for rapid spread on relaxing current public health measures.