Colombo, March 23 (IANS) Barring eight districts, the Sri Lankan government on Monday temporarily lifted the nationwide curfew it had imposed as a preventive measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus in the island nation.

On March 20, the government imposed the police curfew until 6 a.m. on Monday, reports the Daily Mirror newspaper.

Later the government decided to extended the curfew in the eight districts -- Colombo, Gampha, Puttalam, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna -- until 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

During the weekend, a total of 1,589 persons were arrested or violating the curfew, police said.

As of Monday, Sri Lanka has reported a total of 82 confirmed coronavirus cases with no fatalities.

--IANS ksk/