Passengers from UK suspended
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday decided to suspend arrival of passengers from the United Kingdom from today due to a new strain of COVID-19 currently spreading across the UK.
The decision was taken at the daily meeting of COVID-19 Prevention Committee held at the Presidential Secretariat following a review of the new strain of the virus and its spread. The Government has also decided to continue with the existing procedure of obtaining prior approval from the Foreign Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority for all inbound travellers to Sri Lanka in the wake of the discovery of a fast spreading new strain of Coronavirus in certain countries.
The revised guidelines on repatriation will be issued once the situation has been reappraised, a Foreign Ministry statement said yesterday. “All flights from the United Kingdom have been banned to Sri Lanka with effect from 2 a.m. today,” State Aviation Minister D. V. Chanaka told the Daily News last night.
 Passengers checking-in at the Heathrow Airport. |
“We want to ensure that our borders are secure as this could pose a danger to the health of Sri Lankans. All tourists originating from England to Sri Lanka or tourists from other destinations who have also been to England in the interim will not be allowed in Sri Lanka until more details are determined,” the State Minister said.
Any passengers arriving in the island from the UK in the interim will be accommodated at hotels after conducting PCR tests and will be quarantined for 14 days under the supervision of health officials. They will be further subjected to 14 more days of home quarantine.
The crew members of cargo flights inbound from London are also subjected to quarantine. The President drew the attention of the COVID Committee to the need to expedite introduction of the COVID vaccines to Sri Lanka.
COVID vaccines have been developed by a number of countries led by US, Germany, UK, Russia and China. Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga was authorised to coordinate necessary action in consultation with the relevant countries and local health authorities after an in-depth study of the vaccines available in the market and others which will be released soon.
The groups to be vaccinated will be determined based on the need and priority.It was also decided to collect data on high risk areas including estates, flats and hostels and groups.
Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi, State Minister Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Member of Parliament Madura Vithana, Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga, officials of the airport and aviation and members of the COVID Prevention Committee were also present.
Meanwhile, the UK is engaged in urgent talks to unblock its international isolation after more than 40 countries suspended travel links, alarmed by a new coronavirus variant in the UK. The new strain has also been detected in Australia, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands.
EU member states will consider coordinating restrictions later, but so far they have responded individually. Sweden banned foreign travellers from Denmark after cases of the variant were discovered there. It appears to be more transmissible, but there is no sign it is more deadly.
Almost all the 27 EU member states are now blocking travellers from the UK. More than 1,500 lorries were stuck in Kent in south-east England as UK and French leaders tried to reach an agreement on reopening the French border from Wednesday.
Some countries,such as Spain, Portugal and Hungary, are only allowing their residents to return home. WHO Emergencies Chief Mike Ryan said new strains were a normal part of the evolution of a pandemic, and that it was not “out of control”, contradicting earlier remarks in the UK from Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2020/12/23/local/236877/passengers-uk-suspended
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