Inter-provincial travel restrictions extended till Oct. 21

The Government has decided to strictly enforce inter-provincial travel restrictions that are current in effect until October 21, the Presidential Media Division (PMD) said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed the security forces to closely and strictly monitor the vehicular movements at all provincial borders due to the long weekend with holidays on the 19th and 20th.

The President made these remarks during the meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control held through video conference this morning (15).

Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena said the vaccination of school children aged 18-19 years in the Colombo District has commenced today.

Steps have been taken to vaccinate the children of this age group in other districts at schools and at regional health offices from the 21st. According to the health recommendations, one dose will be given to the school children while two doses will be given to the children with congenital diseases.

After completing the vaccination of school children, arrangements have been made to administer a booster shot according to health recommendations. ‘Another 600,000 Pfizer vaccine doses are scheduled to arrive next Monday and the already ordered vaccines are being received uninterruptedly’, said Dr. Prasanna Gunasena, a member of the COVID Committee.

The President pointed out the need to study the measures that should be taken to further reduce the number of COVID-19 deaths and the need to further isolate the relevant areas where patients are being reported.

Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya informed the COVID Committee that the Home Quarantine process adopted by the health sector to control the spread of COVID-19 virus has been highly commended by the World Health Organization.