The Government has decided to lift the ongoing curfew which was imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in several districts and Police areas, says the President’s Media Division (PMD).
The lifting of the currently enforced curfew and the re-enforcement will be as follows;
1. The curfew in Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara and Puttalam districts (Except the Police areas mentioned below) will be lifted at 5 am on Wednesday (April 22) and re-imposed at 8pm the same day. In the following Police divisions the curfew currently in-force will continue until further notice.
Colombo District – Kotahena, Grandpass, Bambalapitiya, Keselwatte, Maradana, Goththatuwa, Mulleriyawa, Wellampitiya, Mt.Lavinia, Dehiwala and Kohuwala.
Gampaha District- JaEla, Kochchikade and Seeduwa
Puttalam District – Puttalam, Marawila and Wennappuwa
Kalutara District- Bandaragama, Payagala, Beruwala and Aluthgama.
Accordingly, the curfew currently in-force in Kotahena, Grandpass, Bambalapitiya, Keselwatte, Maradana, Goththatuwa, Mulleriyawa, Wellampitiya, Mt.Lavinia, Dehiwala and Kohuwala, JaEla, Kochchikade, Seeduwa, Puttalam, Marawila, Wennappuwa, Bandaragama, Payagala, Beruwala and Aluthgama will continue until further notice.
2. The curfew currently in force in other districts (Except Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Puttalam, Kandy,Kegalle and Ampara districts) will be lifted at 5 a.m. on Monday April 20 and re-imposed at 8pm the same day.
3. The curfew currently in force in Kandy, Kegalle and Ampara Districts in Alawathugoda, Akurana, Warakapola and Akkaraipathhtu Police areas will continue until further notice. In these 3 districts (Except the above mentioned Police areas) curfew will be lifted at 5am on Monday (April 20) and re-imposed at 8pm the same day.
Schools, universities, tuition classes, other educational institutions and cinema halls should be closed until further notice. Once the curfew is lifted departments, state corporations, banks and other state institutions would function as usual. One third of the employees of state institutions in the Colombo district should report for duty. In other districts, 50 percent of the employees should report for duty. The rest of the state sector employees have been instructed to work from home. The number of employees to report for duty will be decided by the head of the particular institution.
When state institutions are opened, it has been advised to strictly follow the guidelines issued by the health authorities to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. It is the responsibility of the head of the department to provide necessary facilities to the employees to follow the healthcare measures recommended by the health authorities.
It has been recommended to open private sector institutions at 10am. The heads of those private sector institutions should decide on the number of employees to report for duty. They too should strictly follow the guidelines issued to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The Sri Lanka Transport Board and the Sri Lanka Railway would provide necessary transport facilities to the employees who report for duty. However, all employees of the state transport sector and other essential services are requested to report for duty.
The sole purpose of these measures including imposing curfew is to ensure the well-being of the people of the country in this critical situation. Hence, the Government requests the public to bear the inconveniences caused as a result of the ongoing curfew in a responsible manner.
The Government also emphasizes to purchase only the most essential items and to avoid unnecessary travelling.
The Government has put in place a mechanism to continuously supply essential food and other goods enabling the public to purchase them while at home, during curfew hours,.
Those engaged in paddy farming, fishing and cultivation of small tea holdings and export crops in any district are permitted to carry out their activities.
Travelling to and from all districts has been completely prohibited except for the purpose of providing essential services.
Those who misuse regulations introduced with the prime objective of ensuring the smooth and efficient functioning of essential services will be severely dealt with according to the law.
The villages which have been declared isolated areas in any district will remain in the same category. No one will be allowed to enter or leave these areas until further notice.