xi's moments
Home | Asia Pacific

Sri Lanka to impose nationwide curfew on selected days next week amid rising COVID-19 cases

Xinhua | Updated: 2020-05-29 11:16

A Sri Lankan police officer wearing a protective face mask and a face shield controls the traffic after Island-wide day time curfew been lifted to restart the country's economic activities amidst concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 26, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

COLOMBO - Sri Lankan authorities said on Thursday the country will impose a nationwide curfew on selected days next week to avoid the unnecessary congregation of people after a sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases reported in the island country.

The spike in the number of COVID-19 cases was reported mainly among those who were recently repatriated from overseas.

According to a statement from the President's Media Division, a nationwide curfew will be imposed on May 31, June 4 and June 5 to avoid people from leaving their homes unnecessarily.

Sri Lanka will commemorate a holiday on June 5 in view of the Poson Full Moon day, an important event in the Buddhist calendar. but due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, all devotees have been urged to stay at home and avoid visiting the temples.

The statement said from June 1 to June 3, curfew will be imposed in all districts of the country from 10 pm to 4 am local time while from June 6 onwards; curfew will be imposed from 10 pm to 4 am local time daily until further notice.

The number of COVID-19 cases rose to 1,503 by Thursday evening in the country after 34 new patients were reported during the day, the government information department said.

Out of the 34, 15 patients were reported from the Trincomalee quarantine center in the east among local nationals who were recently repatriated from Kuwait. Two patients were members from the Navy and the other 17 patients were reported from another quarantine center after recently being repatriated from Dubai.

Out of the total 1,503 patients detected to date, 745 patients have completely recovered and been discharged, the government information department said.

A total of 10 deaths have been reported in the country from the virus.

Global Edition
BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349