June 20, Colombo: Travel restrictions imposed islandwide to control the third wave of Coronavirus epidemic will be lifted tomorrow, exactly a month after they were imposed, subject to strict conditions.

The government imposed travel restrictions islandwide on May 21 on the advice of health experts.

State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal said that the loss to the government during the travel restrictions was over Rs. 450 billion.

The current travel restrictions will be lifted at 4.00 am on Monday (21 June) and re-imposed at 10.00 pm on Wednesday (23 June). It will afterwards continue till 4.00 am on Friday (25 June), Head of the National Operations Center for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), Army

Commander General Shavendra Silva said. Despite the removal of island wide travel restrictions today, the travel restrictions between provinces will continue to be enforced, the NOCPCO said.

The following rules will be enforced despite the removal of travel restrictions, the Police Headquarters said.

(1) Only a limited number of employees may be called for office duties.

(2) People who can work from home should use the online system for that purpose.

(3) Public transportation should be limited to the number of seats available.

(4) It is mandatory for every person to wear a face mask.

(5) Orders relating to quarantine shall be executed exactly.

(6) Inter-provincial navigation restrictions remain in effect.

(7) Travel between provinces is possible only for a specific reason.

(7) Meetings, conferences, parties, festivals, shows, excursions, various tours, beach parties and pilgrimages are not permitted.

(9) Collective assembly in outdoor public places such as Galle Face is also prohibited.

(10) Customer service providers shall maintain supermarkets and shops under the health guidelines,

(11) A place should be reserved for hand washing in supermarkets.

(12) A person should be deployed to check the temperature.

Acting Police Media Spokesman Senior DIG Ajith Rohana stated that special police teams will be deployed throughout the country from today (21) to check whether the quarantine laws are being implemented properly.