Sri Lanka Declares Curfew Starting Friday To Contain Coronavirus Oubreak - President

Sri Lanka Declares Curfew Starting Friday to Contain Coronavirus Oubreak - President

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed a nationwide curfew starting Friday in a bid to avert the spread of the coronavirus

NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2020) Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed a nationwide curfew starting Friday in a bid to avert the spread of the coronavirus.

The island nation has so far registered 65 COVID-19 cases.

"Island-wide Curfew declared from 6pm today (20) [12:30 GMT] till 6am Monday (23) [00:30 GMT] #coronavirus #covid-19," the president wrote on Twitter.

It came a day after the government declared a "work-from-home" week for both the public and private sector.

The Russian embassy, meanwhile, informed Russian nationals who are currently in Sri Lanka that, despite the curfew, one could still get to the airport in Colombo to leave for home should they produce a ticket and passport.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. Countries across the world are now scrambling to enforce quarantine and social distancing rules to avert its further spread.