Italy bans entry of Lankans; others advice against visiting SL

Friday, 30 April 2021 04:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Italy yesterday banned the entry of Sri Lankans on account of the sharp rise in the number of COVID infections.

Reuters reported that Italy on Thursday extended for 15 days COVID-19 restrictions already in place on travellers from other European countries, the Health Ministry said, adding that it had also imposed a ban on people coming from Sri Lanka.

People entering Italy from other European countries face five days of quarantine and mandatory testing both before arrival and at the end of their isolation period.

The Government has already banned travel from India and Bangladesh because of fears of a surge of cases in the region, Reuters added.

Separately, UK, USA and Australia have cautioned their citizens against travel to Sri Lanka with the rise in COVID cases.

The US has issued a Level 2 Travel Health Notice for Sri Lanka. Australia placed Sri Lanka at Level 4, its highest anti-travel threshold.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office too issued a travel cautionary notice on Sri Lanka last week.