Tourists from six banned countries have not visited Sri Lanka over the last 14 days: Tourism Minister

• Travellers from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland for the past 14 days will be barred from entering the country from midnight yesterday due to the Omicron new COVID variant
• Relevant departments will look into whether anyone other than tourists has arrived in the country from these countries during the last 14 days

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya   

Tourists from six South African Countries which were barred due to a new COVID variant threat, have not arrived in the country over the last 14 days, a minister said.    

 The Minister said that the relevant departments will look into whether anyone other than tourists has arrived in the country from these countries during the last 14 days. He said the health sector will take further action accordingly.    The minister said that there is no restriction on tourists coming to Sri Lanka from countries other than those six banned countries. He said the authorities would checked whether they have visited the relevant countries when issuing visas.   

He said nearly 90% of the country’s population has been vaccinated so far. The government intends to protect the people and maintain the country under the new normalization program in accordance with the health recommendations, the Minister said.