COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday decided not to enforce a nationwide lockdown despite a surge in the number of coronavirus cases to reduce the negative impact on the country's economy but announced restrictions in some sectors to check the spread of the deadly virus.
The decisions were taken following a high-level meeting between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Army chief General Shavendra Silva, head of the National Center for Covid Prevention.
At the meeting, it was decided to reverse some of the relaxation steps announced recently and not to enforce a nationwide lockdown.
According to a report in Colombo Gazette, the government has so far been keen not to enforce a lockdown as that could have further impact on the economy, already hit by the pandemic.
There have been persistent calls for a nationwide lockdown as the number of people infected by the coronavirus saw a rapid increase and daily deaths reached record levels, the report said.
It was decided that all state functions will be postponed till September 1 and the circular which made it mandatory for all public servants to return to work by August 2 has also been amended.
Accordingly, the heads of the institutions must decide which staff are required to be in attendance, Silva said.
The number of people attending weddings and funerals also have been tightened to further restrict the numbers.
Health officials had raised alarm over the fast escalating numbers of infections and deaths in the country.
Dr Chandima Jeewandara of the University of Sri Jayewardenapura here said that 75 per cent of the new infections detected in the western province were carrying the delta variant.
At least six main hospitals have exceeded their COVID treatment capacity with their covid wards overflowing.
Patients languish on corridors and outside of wards.
Nearly 20,000 new cases have been found over the last 8 days, health officials said.
A record number of 94 deaths in a single day were registered on Thursday.
There have been nearly 600 deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 11 days.
The new measures came as the Association of Medical Specialists had warned that the health sector's capacity to treat the growing number of patients has virtually reached its tipping point.
It was only a matter of days till the demand for oxygen exceeded supply, they said.
According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus data, Sri Lanka has recorded 321,429 COVID-19 cases and 4,821 deaths.