Sri Lanka on Thursday announced that, with immediate effect, all arrivals from India will be banned due to the record rise in COVID-19 cases in the neighbouring country.

Many countries like the UAE, UK, Singapore and  Australia have already banned travellers from India as well as other South Asian countries.

The Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday said that travellers from India will not be allowed to arrive in port in Sri Lanka. The decision has been taken as the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in India.

The Director-General Civil aviation in a letter to the CEO of the national carrier Srilankan Airlines has said, "in accordance with instructions received from health authorities of Sri Lanka due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, it is hereby directed that passengers travelling from India will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka with immediate effect."

Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, nearly 2,000 new cases have been reported during each of the last 5 days up from average 200 per day up until mid-April.

Sri Lanka had functioned as a transit hub for Indians visiting other destinations like West Asia and Singapore prior to which they needed to be quarantined for 14 days. This was an arrangement by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

The Sri Lankan tourism authorities were to continue receiving Indian tourists under a travel bubble for which special facilities were set up. This was despite the current difficult situation in India.

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