Heavy deployment of Sri Lankan police and military in Jaffna last month
Sri Lankan army commander Shavendra Silva, told the Colombo Gazette that nearly 3000 people have been quarantined in Jaffna due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
In a meeting of the the National Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 (NOCPC), Silva said the situation in Jaffna was given “special attention.”
A number of pathways and public places in Jaffna have been closed including the bus stand in the district in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. Restrictions were also imposed on wedding gatherings and on the number of people attending funeral processions.
Some restrictions on movement in Jaffna were reported to be lifted on Friday. The main bus stand in the city has been reopened.
Since the pandemic outbreak last year, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed accused war criminal Shavendra Silva to head the coronavirus taskforce, overseeing the country's response to the pandemic. The militarised response to COVID-19 has also led to the adoption of gratuitous measures effectively ramping up the surveillance and intimidation of Tamils and Muslims.
