The Sri Lankan government extended the current travel ban for another two weeks as health experts warned of possible disruption to the country's health system due to the spread of the coronavirus, AP reported.

Sri Lanka currently has a weekly travel ban that was due to be lifted on May 28. But on Monday, the government announced that lockdown will continue until June 7. During this period, the ban will be loosened for several hours so that people can buy food and other necessities from shops within walking distance.

According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Health, there are 161,242 positive cases in Sri Lanka, with 1,178 deaths.

Doctors predict that the number of patients could rise rapidly in the next two weeks due to the New Year celebrations last month.