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Quarantine curfew, which was due to be relaxed on Monday, has been extended by a week and will be lifted at 4 a.m. on 13 September.
According to the President’s Media Division (PMD), the decision was made when the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control met yesterday. The COVID-19 immunisation program was discussed at the meeting, with focus drawn to the need to complete vaccination of persons between ages 20 and 29 years in the next two weeks.
However, vaccination of this age group commenced only on Thursday and there is a one-month gap between vaccine doses.
“The President said that the Pfizer vaccine could be given to the schoolchildren of the relevant age groups as soon as the medical approval is received,” the PMD statement read, adding that 400 to 450 vaccination centres are operated daily.
At the meeting, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also pointed out the need for the country’s economy to move forward by adapting to the new normalisation system with the success achieved by the vaccination drive.
“The country’s economy showed a negative impact due to the closure of the country for more than three months in 2020,” the PMD said, adding that President Rajapaksa had stressed that all parties must take responsible decisions to move forward while protecting the economy.
“Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa said that the continuous functioning of the factories in the export sector is a great relief for the economy of the country, and this was done due to the success of the vaccination program which was implemented amidst the quarantine curfew,” the PMD statement went on to read.
The statement added that all health sector heads have been given instructions to expedite the process of issuing health guidelines for the promotion of tourism in line with the COVID-19 eradication program.
