BANGKOK: Sri Lanka's government is reimposing a 24-hour curfew across the Indian Ocean island nation Thursday after a recent resurgence of coronavirus cases.
Sri Lanka has 649 COVID-19 patients including seven deaths. Of the total, 308 cases were reported after April 22 and many of them are navy sailors or their close contacts.
The virus is believed to have entered a navy camp after sailors were deployed to search for a group of drug-addicted people who had contact with a COVID-19 patient and were evading quarantine
Authorities have isolated the camp and taken steps to quarantine about 4,000 troops there after infections rose.
The blanket curfew resumes at 8 p.m. It was originally imposed March 20 but had been eased in recent days for about two-thirds of the country.
The easing of the curfew had allowed movement by people in districts where the spread of the virus had been low.
The capital, Colombo, is among the districts considered high-risk and its 24-hour curfew was never eased.
Police strictly enforce the curfew and have arrested more than 41,000 violators since last month.