Mumbai: Sri Lanka on Thursday announced that all arrivals from India will be banned with immediate effect as India reported the world’s highest-ever daily coronavirus cases on Thursday.
The Civil Aviation Authority said on Thursday that passengers from India would not be allowed to land in Sri Lanka. This decision has been taken as coronavirus is spreading rapidly in India.
In a letter to the CEO of the national aircraft carrier Sri Lankan Airlines, Director General Civil Aviation stated, “As per the instructions received from health authorities of Sri Lanka due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, it is hereby directed that passengers travelling from India will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka with immediate effect.”
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases, with an average of around 2,000 new cases during the last 5 days, ranging from 200 per day to mid-April.
Health officials said the current wave is from a rapidly spreading UK version, described as a coming New Year cluster from the traditional New Year celebrations in mid-April.
Sri Lanka served as a transit hub for Indians visiting other destinations such as West Asia and Singapore, for which they should be set aside for 14 days. This was an arrangement by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.
The Sri Lankan tourism authorities were to continue receiving Indian tourists under a travel bubble, for which special facilities were established. This was despite the current difficult situation in India.
However, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has issued instructions to allow Sri Lankan migrant workers to return to the country.
Last week, the Sri Lankan Navy announced as a measure of Kovid control that they increased surveillance of north and northeastern seas to check the possibility of infected Indian fishermen crossing the international waters and making contacts with the locals.
Several countries like the UK, the UAE, Australia and Singapore have already banned travellers from India as well as other South Asian countries.
New coronavirus cases and deaths in India hit a record daily high with 4,12,262 new infections and 3,980 fatalities being reported, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 2,10,77,410 and the death toll to 2,30,168, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
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