Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva appealed to the public to exercise maximum restraint and avoid congested gatherings as much as possible to avoid further transmission of Covid-19.

The request came during a special media statement issued from the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) this evening (28), to announce the recent quarantine curfew arrangements.

At present, the entire district of Gampaha, 21 police jurisdictions in Colombo District, 05 police jurisdictions in Kalutara District are under quarantine curfew.

Meanwhile, quarantine curfew will be imposed within the Western Province from 12 midnight tomorrow (October 29) until 5.00 am on Monday (November 02).

The curfew in the areas where it has already been imposed (before October 29) will continue even after Monday.

Army Chief, reminding the public that quarantine curfew for the Western Province is a temporary move, urged them to refrain from travelling out of the province as well as from panic-buying before curfew is enforced.

He explained that essential food item outlets and pharmacies in the province are requested to remain open from 8 am to 10 pm tomorrow as the curfew will be in effect from Friday (October 30). The public will be allowed to make purchases from outlets that are located within a walking distance.

After November 02, essential food item outlets and pharmacies in the curfew areas will be allowed operation on the two days of the week assigned to their relevant district.

Speaking on ‘home-quarantining’ the contacts of the virus-infected persons, the Army Chief said the government has made arrangements to provide packs of essential items sufficient for 14 days, to each house.