COLOMBO: Sri Lanka staged a mock election on Sunday to test measures aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus during a parliamentary vote in August. The poll was due to be held on April 25 but was put off and then postponed indefinitely due to the epidemic, which official figures show has infected nearly 2,000 people and killed 11.

The election commission said Wednesday the vote would be held on August 5. The island nation of 21 million people has steadily lifted its lockdown restrictions, although a night curfew remains.

The new health measures - to be implemented at polling booths and counting centres - were trialled in four of the 22 electoral districts, commission chairman Mahinda Deshapriya told reporters.