Sri Lankan authorities said that a curfew in capital Colombo and the outskirts of Gampaha, which was imposed on March 24 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, will be relaxed on Tuesday.

According to the President’s Office’s statement, curfew will now be effective in all districts of the country including Colombo for a shorter period of time daily, from 10 pm to 4 am, as there had been no new patients detected among the public within the past two weeks.

The spread of the virus had been contained within one cluster and at the quarantine centres only.

Last week, Sri Lanka’s independent elections commission said that it cannot hold parliamentary elections on June 20 as planned because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The election was originally set for April 25 but the commission rescheduled it for June. Peiris said the commission chose that date expecting the country’s lockdown would be lifted by the end of this month.

Earlier in the month, the Sri Lankan government aimed at total relaxation of the curfew restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed these views during a meeting with the members of the newly-appointed Task Force held at the Presidential Secretariat and later discussed modalities relating to the resumption of civilian life and work from May 11.

However, the President’s Office said, guidelines prescribed by the health authorities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus should be strictly followed during the operations of factories, institutes, offices and shops as well as public transportation.

These guidelines include disinfection, wearing face masks, washing hands from time to time and maintaining social distance.

Police also warned that those not adhering to these guidelines will be arrested.

The authorities said that travel between districts, except for Colombo and Gampaha will also begin from Tuesday but people were strictly advised to maintain social distancing and wearing masks at all times.

Sri Lanka had banned district to district travel since March 20, just days after the first local patient was detected.

The government imposed curfew restrictions in March after the corona cases escalated.

The first Sri Lankan national infected with the disease was reported on March 11.

The country has reported more than 1,100 COVID-19 cases so far, while 10 people have lost thier lives.