Health officials yesterday temporarily suspended the relaxation of COVID-19 preventive measures that made the wearing of facemasks in outdoor settings no longer mandatory.

The decision follows a circular issued on 18 April that states facemasks were henceforth only mandatory in public transport and indoor settings.

However, as per a circular issued by Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena yesterday, the relaxation of guidelines was temporarily suspended considering the large public gatherings currently taking place in the country.

According to Health Minister Channa Jayasumana, the decision to relax the facemask mandate was made by the Ministry’s COVID-19 technical committee in early April. The committee recommended that the new regulations be implemented only after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

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