Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana says that 19 individuals were arrested within yesterday for not following quarantine regulations, and urged the public to adhere with quarantine rules and regulations at all times. 

He stated that the COVID-19 virus is once again spreading across the country with clusters and sub-clusters being created. The police are therefore compelled to implement the quarantine procedures and the quarantine laws.

Accordingly, 19 persons have been arrested within yesterday in respect of the offences of failure to wear facemasks and maintain social distancing.

He said that a total of 3,470 individuals have been arrested since the 30th of October 2020 to date, for the offences of not wearing facemasks and not maintaining social distancing.

Sri Lanka Police are conducting continuous operations in this connection because we need to control the pandemic and therefore the general public are kindly requested to adhere with quarantine rules and regulations, the police spokesman said.

“Don’t move anywhere without a facemask. Especially we have instructed our traffic police officers to check the procedures in respect of public transportation,” he said. 

Therefore, police officers are conducting quarantine operations once again at all times and the general public should follow the health guidelines, rules and regulations, he added.

DIG Ajith Rohana stated that if a person is arrested in respect of the offences under the quarantine law, he or she would be fined Rs 10,000 by the court in addition to serving 6 months of rigorous imprisonment.