Chief of Defence Staff, Army Commander and Head, National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), General Shavendra Silva said that no decision had been taken regarding an islandwide lockdown.
Hence, he requested the public not to panic due to certain rumours and misleading reports of a lockdown spreading through social media.
However, the Army Commander stated that travel restrictions could be imposed within the next few days curtailing travel between provinces.
Meanwhile, General Silva urged employers to restrict movement between districts as far as possible when assigning staff for service.
“We, in particular, issued a special order last week to the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration to maintain his workplace with a minimum number of employees,” he said.
“We informed him that if there were any non-essential employees travelling to work from other districts, the heads of the institutions should be notified not to get them for duty,” he added.
The Head of the National Operations Center for the Prevention of Covid 19 said that the 83 Grama Niladhari Divisions belonging to six police divisions in four isolated districts had been released from isolation from yesterday, May 10.
He noted that currently, infections are reported from 15 districts. Also, five Police Divisions have been completely isolated by now.
