Ambulance rushing to save lives locked in by lockdown traffic

If one is to step outside the house these days and go for a walk or access a nearby grocery store to buy supplies, he or she may wonder whether a ‘lockdown’ or ‘conditional travel restrictions’ is still effective in the country as government ministers claimed. It was business as usual, and even crowds lined up in front of liquor stores.

It was evident how the travel restrictions are currently effective in the country when an ambulance was trying to navigate a traffic jam in one of the busy streets in Colombo this week. After slowing down and repeated horning to clear its way, the ambulance managed to continue its journey with a couple of motorists following behind.

Motorists seem deaf to the wailing sirens of these ambulances carrying patients to hospitals where every minute could be a matter of life and death. No wonder the 1990 ambulance authorities have appealed to the public to assist.