A health worker sprays disinfectant in a classroom at the Anula school, in the suburb of Nugegoda in Colombo on June 19, 2020. - Sri Lanka has been steadily lifting lockdown restrictions, although a night-time curfew remains. Schools will re-open later this month and foreign tourists will be allowed from August 1. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)
Sri Lanka’s ruling party Sunday called off its rallies ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections and delayed the international airport’s reopening over a surge in virus cases.
The South Asian country of 21 million lifted its coronavirus lockdown in late June after declaring there was no longer any community spread of the virus.
But a swathe of cases emerged last week, including an outbreak at a drug rehabilitation centre last week that saw 253 patients test positive in a single night.
“All public meetings where the president and the prime minister were due to attend today, tomorrow and the day after have been cancelled,” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party said in a statement.
Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda is the country’s prime minister.
The party said all their candidates were also told to call off upcoming public gatherings ahead of the August 5 poll.
Aviation Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said Sunday the international airport, which authorities had planned to reopen on August 1, would remain closed.
“We have decided in the interest of safety and well-being of our citizens to put off the reopening of airports,” he said.
A repatriation programme that has brought home some 12,000 Sri Lankans from overseas so far would also be suspended, Ranatunga added.
The elections were to be held on April 25, but were postponed twice before being rescheduled for August.
The country has reported 2,605 cases with 11 deaths so far.
AFP
Meanwhile, former NNPCL Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya Isa, rejected claims that ₦210 trillion was…
The matter was adjourned till June 17, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.
Shaibu insisted that the exercise was credible and challenged claims that it was manipulated.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State said that the President's reforms and development initiatives in…
The seat became vacant following the demise of Usman Muhammad on April 6, 2026.
Ekiti State has more than one million registered voters spread across 16 local government areas.