Sri Lanka orders closure of bars and restaurants after surge in COVID-19 cases

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Authorities in Sri Lanka have ordered the closure of bars, restaurants, casinos, nightclubs and spas due to the rapidly growing COVID-19 cases. The announcement was made on Friday, October 9 while Sri Lankan authorities were trying to contain a growing cluster of new COVID-19 infections. The new cluster is the country’s first locally transmitted COVID case in two months and centres around a garment factory in densely populated Western province.

Growing COVID cluster cause concerns

According to an AP reports, the first COVID-19 patient in this new cluster is a garment worker at the factory, and since being discovered the cluster size has grown to encompass over 1,000 cases with 2,000 asked to quarantine themselves. Most of those infected are co-workers of the originally infected worker.

In response to the surging virus cases, Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry closed the consular affairs office for the week and suspended all services to prevent the public from congregating. The ministry also announced that it would only be accepting queries and documentation regarding deaths of Sri Lankans overseas, this also would be done only through strict appointments.

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Authorities have even imposed a curfew in the neighbourhoods where many of the infected workers live, they have also ordered the closure of schools and key public offices in the area. Restrictions have been placed on public gatherings as well as transportation in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. As per John Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre, Sri Lanka has reported more than 4,000 positive virus cases and currently has a death toll of 13. More than 3,200 people have recovered from the virus in Sri Lanka.

The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected over 36 million people worldwide with the global death toll crossing 1,000,000. The US has reported more than 7.6 million positive COVID-19 cases and a death toll of over 210,000.

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(With AP inputs, Image: AP)