Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Another crucial meeting will held this morning between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Presidential Task Force on Prevention of COVID-19 to decide if travel restrictions will be imposed over the weekend to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Army Commander General Shavendra Silva told Daily Mirror that the meeting will be held with the participation of ministers, Director General of Health Services and several other experts to discuss the current developments and further decisions to be taken related to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The meeting will take place after the country recorded it’s highest ever daily COVID-19 deaths on August 11. Also the daily COVID-19 cases surpassed the 3,000 mark on Thursday after a few weeks.

Following the surge in cases and exceeded capacity in the hospitals, health experts, several organizations and the opposition has urged the government to impose an immediate lock down for at least 14 days to contain the rapid spread of the virus.

Earlier, Professor of Community Medicine, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Suneth Agampodi claimed that an immediate imposition of curfew will prevent at least 1,200 additional deaths within the next 20 days.

The Army Commander said though experts had made statements to media over a lockdown, not a single formal request had been made to the COVID-19 Task Force. However, the matter is likely to be noted at the meeting today.

The previous meeting held with the President and the Covid-19 Task Force had taken several decisions to prevent the spread of the virus.