Colombo, Aug 21 (IANS): A 10-day nationwide quarantine curfew has been imposed in Sri Lanka in order to prevent the further spread of Covid-19, the country's Army Commander General Shavendra Silva announced.

Silva, also Head of the National Operations Centre for Prevention of Covid-19, told Xinhua news agency that the curfew came into effect from 10 p.m. Friday and will be lifted at 4 a.m. on August 30.

However, essential services such as those in agriculture, apparel, construction workers, and pharmacies can continue to operate, he said.

Silva said vaccination centres will remain open and priority will be given to those above 60 years old who are yet to be vaccinated.

"Mobile teams will operate during these 10 days and we will ensure that all those above 60 are vaccinated as a large number of deaths from the virus have been among this age group," Silva said.

Sri Lanka is facing a rapid rise in Covid-19 infections with 377,973 cases detected since March last year.

The current active patient count was over 47,000, statistics from the Health Ministry showed.

Altogether 6,790 deaths have been reported from the virus.

Health workers said the rise in infections in recent weeks was from the Delta variant with capital Colombo being the epicentre of the variant spread.

Hospitals have been filled with patients, while crematoriums are also working round the clock to cremate the dead.

Health workers have warned that the situation may reach its peak in two weeks and have urged people to stay indoors as much as possible.