Sri Lanka temporarily lifts nationwide travel restriction

Army Commander and Head of the National Operations Center for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak Gen. Shavendra Silva told Xinhua that the country-wide travel restriction was lifted for three days from Monday to allow the public to leave their homes for essential work.

However, he said only two people from every house were allowed to leave home for essential work while private and state-owned companies were urged to operate on very minimum staff.

Silva said Sri Lanka continued to report a very high number of COVID-19 patients and deaths, calling the public to behave responsibly till the nationwide travel restriction is re-imposed again on Wednesday night.

According to fresh guidelines issued by the Health Ministry on Sunday, supermarkets across Sri Lanka can function on a 25-percent capacity per time while grocery stores will be allowed to take in only three people per time.

Restaurants will remain closed for dine-in while all public gatherings and weddings will continue to be suspended.

Sri Lanka will re-impose the nationwide travel restriction on Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. and lift it again on Friday 4:00 a.m. local time.

The country is presently facing a third wave of the COVID-19 virus with the new variants causing a rapid spread.

Since April, over 100,000 new patients have been detected from a new cluster which has led to hospitals functioning on full capacity, health officials have said.