SL Parliament sessions limited to 2 hours amid Covid-19 risk

Sessions of the Sri Lankan Parliament when the House meets next week have been limited to only two hours due to the heightened risk of Covid-19 within the complex, official sources said.

The decision was taken on Thursday following a meeting of the Committee on Parliament Business, The Daily Financial Times newspaper reported.

Parliament will convene on November 3 and will only sit for two hours, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, according to the Committee.

It has also decided to ban media personnel will be barred from covering the sessions, which  will be telecast via a cable television channel, Facebook Live, YouTube and Parliament webcasting.

Only MPs, invited officials, security personnel and Parliament staff will be allowed to inside the complex.

Parliament was closed for two days on Sunday after a police officer in the premises tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Sri Lanka has witnessed a resurgence of Covid-19 cases after the emergence of a cluster in Gampaha district earlier this month.

As of Friday, the island nation's overall caseload has surged to 9,205, while the death toll stood at 14.