Defence Secretary Maj.Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said the Government was re-imposing islandwide curfew to restrict public movements and also gatherings to keep spreading of the coronavirus (COVID-19) at bay to ensure public safety and health.
Requesting the public to heed to the instructions and advices issued by the Defence and Health ministries he said the number of people violating the police curfew law stood at a total of 1,754 individuals. Nearly 450 vehicles have been detained for violating the curfew during the last four days.
Issuing a statement, the Defence Secretary said as a pre-emptive measure in ensuring public safety against the spreading of the coronavirus pandemic, the Defence Ministry would re-impose curfew until the danger of spreading the virus eased to a controllable stage and requested people to support the move by staying indoors.
“We need public support to contain spreading of COVID-19. It is difficult to control spreading the virus if we didn’t stop mobility and avoid following social distancing,” Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said.
The Defence Secretary said the public servants attached to the essential services could use their service identity cards as curfew passes to report to their respective institutions during police curfew.
The Defence Secretary said the Police and armed forces personnel were engaged in ensuring public safety from coronavirus while bearing the possible risks to their health and wellbeing for the betterment of the safety of the country’s population of 22 million people.
The Defence Secretary had urged the public to act responsibly at times when curfew was lifted to obtain essentials goods for households.
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