LNP – Schools should not be opened right now; Medical experts

One of the leading Covid-19 researcher and head of Jayawardenapura University’s Immunology and Molecular Sciences Department, Prof. Neelika Malavige reiterated that schools should not be opened right now as children are susceptible to the new variant which is fast spreading in Sri Lanka.

Prof. Malavige hailed the decision to close schools and stressed it would prevent children from getting infected by reducing the possibility of transmission.

“The children could be more susceptible to this variant than the ‘original’ SARS-COV2 virus. It is a good step that schools we closed for several reasons. Apart from it preventing children from getting infected, it also would significantly reduce risk of transmission,” .

Prof. Malavige said studies have shown that unlike the previous variant, the present one increases disease severity and might cause illness in younger individuals as well.

She said it was very unfair to keep the students for months and they lost time for education but added “right now, we need to focus on saving lives.”

The children could be more susceptible to this variant than the ‘original’ SARSCOV2 virus.

It is very unfair for the students. They lost so many months because they had to stay at home, and we know only a minority have facilities for online learning. But right now, we need to focus on saving lives

We will have to immunize a large proportion of the world population. Not just Sri Lanka but the whole world, to achieve herd immunity and stop transmission

Prof. Neelika Malavige, the head of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Sciences of the Sri Jayawardenapura University after extensive research last week announced that the new variant of Covid-19 that is being spread in the country is airborne and people have to take extra precautions to protect themselves. In an interview with Daily Mirror Prof. Malavige stressed the importance of taking measures not to allow any more variants entering Sri Lanka, as it would have a huge impact on health, education and the economy.

But it is very important to make sure we do not import any more variants into this country. Such importation has a huge impact on health, education and the economy