No decision to declare complete lockdown, says Defence Secretary

Saturday, 4 April 2020 21:35 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Government has not taken any decision to announce a complete lockdown during next week considering the present situation related to COVID-19 in the country, Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said today.

Commenting on rumours going viral claiming that there would be a complete five-day lockdown in the country, he said those rumours were being spread to create a fear psychosis among the public, but no such decision had been taken by the Government so far.

“Curfew has been imposed to control the spread of the highly-contagious COVID-19 virus. Once the health and security forces with the support of the public have been able to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, we will be able to remove curfew gradually,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said the public should not be misled by such rumours and Police would deal with rumour mongers who were creating unnecessary panic among people.