Three Ukrainian tourists test positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka’s tourism revival project
COLOMBO– Three Ukrainian tourists who arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday (28) as part of a pilot project to restart tourism in the country have tested positive for COVID-19, health officials confirmed on Wednesday (30).
Health Services Deputy Director General, Dr. Hemantha Herath, told reporters, the COVID-19 positive tourists, who are part of the first batch of Ukrainians to arrive in Sri Lanka, have been transferred to treatment facilities setup at the hotels designated for their quarantine procedure.
The group of 185 tourists who arrived at the Mattala international airport was welcomed by what appeared to be an unmasked dance item. In footage shown by various media outlets, some of the tourists stepping out of the flight were seen with their mask hanging on their chin.
The second batch of 204 tourists from Ukraine arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday (29).
The government has reopened Sri Lanka for tourism in a limited manner from this week, after banned visitors and closed airport to prevent the spread of the virus in March 2020.
Government officials said the first group of Ukrainians were currently stationed at an undisclosed hotel where they’re undergoing a14-day quarantine.
“The tour group will be divided into groups of 10 and will be taken for a 10-day tour around the island,” head of the Public Health Inspector Union, Upul Rohana, said adding that health guidelines were issued to all tourists at the airport.
The Ministry of Tourism had previously announced that the tourists arriving as part of the pilot project to revive tourism would require to take a PCR tests before departure to Sri Lanka and be subjected to another upon arrival, followed by a 14-day quarantine period. A limited number of hotels had been pre-booked for the tourists during their stay.
“In this pilot project we observe the success of the tours and whether they follow the guidelines accordingly. After that we will decide whether or not to bring more tourists to the country,” Rohana said. The PHI union is collaborating with the tourism ministry for the project, he added.
“They can only continue the tour in the island after yet another PCR test subsequent to the 14-day quarantine,” he elaborated.
Under a pilot project, the government is expected to welcome tourists from various countries to ascertain its capability of handling flights and tourists amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, 457 people tested positive for COVId-19 in the 24 hours that ended at 6:00 a.m. Wednesday, the National Operations Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPOCO) said, nothing that four are returnees from Dubai while 453 are linked to the local fish market and prison clusters.
A further 354 were confirmed as COVID-19 positive in the 12 hours up to 6:00 p.m., taking the novel coronavirus count to 42,417 with 7,599 active cases and 34,623 deemed as recovered and released from various designated hospitals across the country.
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