A Sri Lankan Muslim woman, right in black attire, walks in a busy street of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, March 13, 2021. Sri Lanka on Saturday announced plans to ban the wearing of burqas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools known as madrassas, citing national security. (Photo via AP)

Sri Lankan authorities on Friday said an ongoing nationwide travel restriction would be extended till June 21 in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

Army Commander and Head of the National Operations Center for the Prevention of COVID-19, General Shavendra Silva told Xinhua that following a meeting held between the COVID-19 task force and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president had instructed to extend the travel restriction and lift it on June 21 at 4 am.

The travel restriction was initially expected to be lifted on June 14.

However, Silva said that all factories including apparel factories, major construction projects, essential services, economic centers, those involved in agricultural projects, and organic fertilizer manufacturers would be allowed to operate even during the restrictions.

All others were urged to stay at home, Silva said.

Sri Lanka is presently in the midst of a third wave of the COVID-19 virus with over 218,000 COVID-19 patients reported to date.

Within the past two months alone, over 100,000 new infections have been reported as Sri Lanka has detected new Delta and Alpha variants of the COVID-19 from several areas, health officials said.