Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva calls on People to be Cautious when Going Out

COLOMBO (News 1st): The island-wide police curfew that was imposed on the 20th of March in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, is set to be relaxed for most parts of the island in the coming week. News 1st inquired with the relevant authorities on how the people must act once the curfew is lifted. "You must have an aim, when you are going out of the house, as an individual," told Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Acting Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, speaking to News 1st on Sunday (19th of April). Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva said, individually one must go out with the aim of, "I will never behave in such a way, where I will get infected with COVID-19 and that should be the aim before you leave home and return." "If you behave thinking I will never get this virus into my body, then the country will be safe and we can eradicate COVID-19 from Sri Lanka," said Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva. Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva appreciated the people's support to curb the spread of the COVID-19; "It is the people who brought about this success; we did our duty, but as citizens of this nation they made a lot of sacrifices to control the situation up to this level." "We salute the people of Sri Lanka, for all the contributions they made, the sacrifices they made, in order to achieve this level," Army Commander told News 1st today. The Army Commander was hopeful the people will continue to follow health instructions and assist to curb the spread of COVID-19 by acting responsibly as they have done in the past. Police curfew for all districts excluding the HIGH-RISK ZONES of COVID-19 will be relaxed at 5:00 am tomorrow, 20th of April and will be re-imposed at 8:00 pm; as such the curfew will be in effect daily from 8:00 pm till 5:00 am. In the HIGH-RISK ZONES; that is Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Puttlam, Kandy, Kegalle & Ampara, the curfew is set to be relaxed on Wednesday 22nd of April; this is excluding certain police divisions.   For the revised curfew regulations check: https://www.newsfirst.lk/2020/04/18/govt-to-lift-curfew-in-certain-areas-of-high-risk-zones-on-april-22/ )