ReliefWeb

SUMMARY

• As of 23 November, there have been 20,171 positive cases, 14,497 recoveries, and 87 deaths across the country.

• UNICEF helped to procure and deliver critical hygiene and infection-prevention supplies to high-risk communities and treatment centers as well as support for rural health care facilities (HCFs) to enhance WASH facilities (such as handwashing facilities at the point of treatment).

• Face masks and hand sanitizer were delivered to the Ministry of Education to protect 1,500 education officials, including academics and schoolteachers. UNICEF designed a low-cost handwashing station that was installed in more than 1,000 schools across the country.

• A lack of reliable and adequate data for decision making was a major challenge.

Context

The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Sri Lanka when its first case was confirmed on 27. January 2020. As of 23 November, there have been 20,171 positive cases, 14,497 recoveries, and 87 deaths across the country. The Sri Lankan government implemented a lockdown-style curfew for over two months, lifted on 11 May. Amid the pandemic Sri Lankan parliamentary elections were held on 5 August 2020. As part of its WASH response, UNICEF worked with WHO and the Ministry of Health (MoH) to provide public health messaging. UNICEF helped to procure and deliver critical hygiene and infection-prevention supplies to highrisk communities and treatment centers as well as support for rural health care facilities (HCFs) to enhance WASH facilities (such as handwashing facilities at the point of treatment). UNICEF expanded its scope to include the urban poor living in high-density, low-capacity settings as well as the plantation sector. Together with the Ministry of Education (MoE), UNICEF developed an overall response plan and a costed-contingency plan, which included WASH. Individual schools and Early Childhood Care and Development Centers (ECCDs) have been supported to become COVIDproof through donations by alumni and parents.