The Sinhalese and Tamil New Year is the biggest ceremony in Sri Lanka. It's not just Sinhalese and Tamils that celebrate the event, but also Muslims like my self. The Chinese Wuhan Virus impact has been so much so that the country is in a state of lock down. People don't have a problem of celebrating the new year, but a problem of surviving the day.

Tomorrow is the first Saturday in April. In my book, that is the deadline for me to go shop for new clothes and groceries to prepare the table for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. That is not some thing that is going to happen today. I am having to order items online to survive the day. I am the fortunate few who can do it. There are people on daily wages that have to settle the day sipping water.

That is not all. The economy gets a boom during April thanks to the immense spending. For many this is the only time of the year they can earn some money to survive the rest of the year. But this year it's going to be different.

Factories are no longer operating. Companies that can work remotely are working in subpar efficiency. Every thing else is in a state of shutdown. The Sri Lankan Rupee is tanking w.r.t. the US dollar. The government is desperate for foreign currency and has relaxed laws to attract foreign currency.

What usually is the best month of year has now turned out to be the worst thanks to the Chinese inaction. Not only did they not act, but also hid the situation until it's too late. Once they admitted, they tampered with the numbers. That is now apparent because we get numbers from all over the world. Not only that, the medical equipment they sell are of subpar quality. The masks not as safe as they should be. The tests kits detect only a fraction of the positive cases defeating the purpose of testing and further spreading the virus. Countries with wise men rejecting Chinese made equipment.

Now as the world burns, they start their factories, even profiting from body bags. Was this their intention all over? Is this a silly mistake or well planned attack on the world? Or sheer luck?

No matter what, this Sinhalese and Tamil New Year we are going to have to worry about breathing rather than celebrating. Be vigilant, stay safe!