COLOMBO – Sri Lanka will ban inbound passengers from Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait from July 1 to July 13 as COVID-19 confirmation among returnees, particularly from the Gulf countries, continue to spike.
Cabinet Spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters on Tuesday (29), the decision was taken after more than 100 new COVID-19 cases were detected from amongst the latest arrivals from the Middle East. He said the matter was discussed at the Cabinet meeting and that the temporary ban was unavoidable.
However, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka said transit passengers from Gulf countries will be permitted to disembark
“In accordance with instructions received from the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Task Force, due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation all online and offline airlines are hereby directed that passengers with a travel history in the past 14-days to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka with effect from 001hrs on July 1, 2021,” the CAA said in a circular published on Monday (28)
It said the restriction will be in force from 001hrs July 1 till 23:59hrs July 13.
Rambukwella said the decision was taken in the best interest of the Sri Lankan public and to investigate how more infected returnees keep turning up despite negative PCR test certification.
Sri Lanka has been recording about 800 inbound passengers on average per day since it opened the airport after a COVID-19 closure.
“We’re concerned because there is a question of the validity of the PCR tests these arrivals were supposed to have undergone and the certificate they submitted. A three-hour flight lands here with over 100 infected patients, of course, it is a concern,” Rambukwella said.
“So as a temporary measure we have stopped [inbound passengers from these countries] but we will look into the larger part of it as to how it happened,” he added.
The minister said while there were zero cases aboard some airlines others had carried infected passengers and therefore an investigation is due.
With regard to migrant workers who are waiting to return home, he said the government wants to bring them back but the public health situation must also be taken into consideration.
Sri Lanka is aiming to vaccinate 60 to 70% of the population against COVID-19 in the next few months, said Rambukwella, but claimed Sri Lanka needed to be cautious if people keep coming in with variants because it is in the best interest of the people,
According to data from the Sri Lanka Ministry of Health, about has 308 returnees has tested positive for the novel coronavirus during the period June 20 to 28, with 100 cases confirmed on June 27.
Officials at the airport said it was a daunting process to check the validity of the PCR negative certificates.
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