Sri Lanka cancels major Buddhist, Muslim festivals
Religious celebrations are called off as the country reels from a third wave of the coronavirus outbreak
Updated: May 14, 2021 03:35 AM GMT
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A man waits to board a train as the Sri Lankan government imposed travel restrictions and a weekend lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Colombo on May 13. (Photo: AFP)
Sri Lanka has canceled major religious festivals and the government has imposed countrywide travel restrictions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, and Vesak, the main Buddhist festival, have been called off.
The government decided to impose island-wide travel restrictions from 11pm on May 13 to May 17 due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases and deaths as the country faces a third wave of the contagion.
Tough measures in place to control the Pandemic Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
The Government this week continued its campaign against the Coronavirus pandemic which is rampaging in neighbouring India and threatening to spill over to its southern neighbour. Despite these efforts however the number of infections and the death toll from the deadly disease continues to rise.
At the time of writing, the death toll attributed to Coronavirus infections and related complications stood at 850 with 26 deaths being recorded on Monday. This is the highest number of deaths recorded due to the Coronavirus in a single day since the pandemic began last year and spread to Sri Lanka.
Wednesday 12th May, 2021
There is a lot of brouhaha over the government’s claim that it influenced the World Health Organization (WHO) decision to approve the emergency use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine; the WHO is reported to have denied this claim. Government propagandists cannot resist the temptation to perform foot-in-the-mouth stunts that embarrass their masters beyond measure. However, the real issue is not how the WHO approval was granted for Sinopharm, or any other vaccine for that matter. The issues that warrant public attention are whether enough vaccine stocks will be available; how effective the jabs will be against the new variants of coronavirus, and how to face the socio-economic issues caused by the pandemic.
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Highlights
The move comes after inter-provincial travel restrictions were put into place across the country until May 30.
Essential services and transportation of food items will be allowed during this period.
Colombo: Sri Lanka on Wednesday (May 12) intensified travel restrictions across the country, restricting the movement of traffic at night to combat the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 800 lives in the island nation.
The ban, from 11 pm to 4 am daily, will come into place from tonight until May 31, Army chief Gen Shavendra Silva, who heads the COVID-19 combat operations, told the media.
However, essential services and transportation of food items will be allowed during this period.
Chief of staff of Sri Lankan army Shavendra Silva. File
| Photo Credit:
REUTERS
The ban, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily, will come into place from tonight until May 31, Army chief Gen Shavendra Silva, said. Sri Lanka on Wednesday intensified travel restrictions across the country, restricting movement of traffic at night to combat the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 800 lives in the island nation.
The ban, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily, will come into place from tonight until May 31, Army chief Gen Shavendra Silva, who heads the COVID combat operations, told the media.