BANGKOK – Sri Lanka has reimposed a countrywide 24-hour curfew after a surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, most of them navy sailors who were hunting those evading quarantine.
The 46 new infections on Friday were the highest in a day. They brought to 420 the number of COVID-19 patients in the Indian Ocean island, including seven deaths.
Sri Lanka partially lifted a monthlong curfew on Monday during daytime hours in more than two thirds of the country. The new curfew remains in effect until Monday.
Police have arrested more than 30,000 violators. Among the newly infected were 30 navy sailors from a camp on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo.