Movement between districts barred

It has been decided to strictly restrict movement between districts to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, as per the instructions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Accordingly, crossing district boundaries will be banned except for essential services and the distribution of goods.

The President made this decision at a meeting held with the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) at the Presidential Secretariat today (01).

Along with the decision to bar travel between districts, President Rajapaksa took several more decisions to control the epidemic without hindering the daily life of the public and the economy.

The measures taken by the Government to self-quarantine the infected at their homes instead of taking them to quarantine centers have produced results as expected stated President’s Media Division. In order to make it more effective the process should be continuously monitored by the Medical Officer of Health, the Public Health Inspector, the Police, and the Army, President pointed out.

The President instructed to bring back those non-infected persons under home quarantine to normal life after 14 days after conducting PCR tests on the 10th day,.

“The government was able to protect the people during the first outbreak even when there was no experience of COVID-19.” The President said that steps should be taken to control the current situation utilizing the lessons learned from previously adopted strategies and methods.

President emphasized the importance of conducting continuous and regular random tests. He also stressed that every effort should be made to provide the results within a short period of time. No matter whether the PCR tests are done by a private hospital or the Government, it is mandatory to quarantine the person until the results are released and PCR tests conducted in private hospitals should be closely monitored by the Ministry of Health, President noted.

Isolation of close associates and areas after COVID infected persons are detected is being carried out as an immediate measure to prevent the spread of the virus. In addition to this, a curfew will be imposed with the objective of containing the disease. Therefore, the President instructed the police to strictly enforce the curfew once it is declared.

The Head of the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival Basil Rajapaksa said that essential goods will be distributed in areas where curfew is in force as in the past.

Basil Rajapaksa also said that the program will be implemented by assigning responsibilities to District and Divisional Secretaries, Grama Niladharis, and Local Government Representatives and the monthly elders’ allowance will be handed over at the doorstep similar to previous occasions.

Steps have also been taken to provide a bag of essential goods worth Rs. 10,000 to those under quarantine at homes, PMD added.