The Ministry of Health claims that the Health sector of Sri Lanka has not collapsed, despite a surge in coronavirus cases.
The Head of the Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Ministry of Health Dr. Hemantha Herath said he has advised health sector employees to move into emergency protocols, in the event hospitals island-wide are overwhelmed with patients, and exceed treatment capacity.
Dr. Herath assured that the health sector has contingency plans in place in case the situation gets worse.
Dr. Hemantha Herath made this statement in reply to media questions pertaining to social media posts which show the health sector being unable to cope with the sudden influx of covid-19 positive cases, and patients are on the floors of state hospitals.
He said any hospital will experience delays to prep and admit patients, adding that such incidents are being shown on social media.
However, the Dr. Herath commented that hospital authorities will take steps to streamline the process.
Dr. Hemantha Herath said the delays to admit patients were temporary phenomena, and assured that COVID-19 patients will be taken care of, in a manner that will not harm other patients.
Also speaking at the media briefing, Consultant Physician at the Colombo National Hospital Dr. Upul Dissanayake said anyone who returns a positive result for during PCR test must spend time taking maximum rest.
He advised that individuals remain in bed rest, since it will decrease the risk of fatal outcomes caused to the body via breathing difficulties.
Dr. Upul Dissanayake especially requested females of the household to obtain adequate rest without getting busy with housework.
He also requested individuals to find out methods to measure their oxygen intake, and recommended a pulse oximetre.
In the event an individual’s oxygen saturation levels go below 96%, Dr. Upul Dissanayake recommended that they seek immediate medical attention.
Issuing guidelines on the matter, Dr. Dissanayake requested that an individual sit on a chair and stand up eight times, and thereafter wait for 2 minutes by wearing the pulse oximetre.
During this time if the oxygen saturation levels go below 2% of the usual respiration when rested, Dr. Upul Dissanayake recommends that the individual is taken to a hospital.
