Colombo, March 3 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has announced that all passengers arriving from Italy, Iran and South Korea will have to undergo a 14 day quarantine period to prevent the novel coronavirus from entering the country.
Director General of Health Services,, Dr. Anil Jasingha told a media briefing that health divisions were on high alert and strict preventive measures were ongoing as presently there were no positive cases of the coronavirus in Sri Lanka.
He said passengers arriving from the above three countries would be urged to stay at home or in hospital, under quarantine for 14 days, and their details will be shared with the local public health inspectors for them to follow up on their health.
Further, Dr. Jasingha said the government had also decided to ban passengers arriving in cruise ships to disembark due to the risks posed by the rapid spread of the virus.
He added that arrival of cruise ships into the island country had not been prohibited, however, disembarking the passengers was banned taking into consideration the prevailing risks.
“Most cruise ships around the world carry people aged above 50 years, who are the most vulnerable to be infected with the COVID-19. Permitting them to disembark when the ships anchor at local ports will put the island at risk,” Dr. Jasingha said.
According to the Health Ministry, presently there are 18 ‘suspected’ patients warded at hospitals across the country.
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