24 February 2020 12:08 am
With the World Health Organisation (WHO) expressing concern about the increase in COVID-19 (Coronavirus) cases in several countries including South Korea with no clear link to China, the Health Ministry has decided to quarantine all passengers arriving from that country for 14 days from yesterday, a senior Health Ministry official said.
Head of the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said that this decision had been taken upon the fears that the virus may have affected the Sri Lankans currently residing in South Korea with the surge in COVID-19 cases in that country.
He said that only air passengers from South Korea are to be covered under this new decision and they will be allowed to go to their destinations in Sri Lanka and will be requested to confine themselves to those places for 14 days, under observation of the Ministry. People arriving from China are also currently undergoing this procedure. South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in had said that the government will raise the country’s disease alert by one notch to the highest level in a bid to contain a surge in new coronavirus cases in that country which had leaped by 123 to 556 on Sunday and the death toll rising to five, according to the Korea Centre for Disease and Control and Prevention.
Nine South Korean nationals who visited Israel and the Occupied West Bank from February 8 to 15 have tested positive for coronavirus, prompting Israeli and Palestinian authorities to order those who came in contact with the tour group to self quarantine for two weeks, Al Jazeera News website said.
Dr. Samaraweera stated that the decision to quarantine the passengers from South Korea had been communicated to the officials at the Katunayake International Airport for necessary action.
Around 22,000 Sri Lankans are currently working in South Korea.