Govt. to review curfew in Western Province today

The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 will meet today to review the situation in the Western Province and decide if the curfew will be lifted as announced on Monday morning at 5 a.m., Army Commander and Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), Lt. General Shavendra Silva told Daily Mirror yesterday. 

The meeting will also focus on reviewing the situation in the Gampaha District,where the Minuwangoda cluster erupted and also Peliyagoda where the fish market cluster has infected over thousands in recent weeks.

Silva said that the situation will be thoroughly reviewed and while it was likely that curfew may be lifted as announced on Monday, areas however where a blockade is required, within the Western Province will be declared as isolated zones."chances are that we will lift the curfew but important places where we feel that there can be a spread, will be declared as isolated areas in Colombo,there may be a need to declare one or two places as isolated zones," Silva said.

In recent weeks, over 2,000 COVID-19 patients have been detected in the Colombo District while over 5,800 families have been quarantined within the district. Silva said the 10 day curfew imposed in the province had prevented a further spread of the virus as a 'quarantine curfew' was the last resort taken to control the pandemic.(JAMILA HUSAIN)