Sri Lanka suspends inbound international flights to check spread of COVID

The Sri Lankan government has suspended all inbound international passenger flights for 10 days from Friday as part of its efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic in the island nation, which reported the highest spike in infections and deaths on Wednesday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) said on Wednesday the flight suspension will be in force from midnight of May 21 to midnight of May 31.

The CAASL said passengers who require to leave the country would be allowed to do so during this period, via other international transit flights (with a halt of less than 12 hours) and flights originating from the country.

The aviation authority has enlisted four exceptions to the restriction: emergency aircraft diversion to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and Bandaranaike International Airport, freighter operations and humanitarian flights, technical landings, and inbound ferry flights without passengers, the Colombo Page news portal reported.

As announced earlier, Sri Lanka will return to a form of continuous lockdown by way of travel restrictions from Friday (May 21)

The restrictions on movement would be in force from 11 pm on May 21, until 4 am on 25 May. It will be reimposed at 11 pm on May 25 and will be continued till 29 May.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday recorded its highest number of daily new COVID-19 cases at 3,623. The number of daily deaths also was the highest reported so far at 36 fatalities.

As of Wednesday, the total number of coronavirus-related deaths stood at 1,051 in the island nation. The total number of cases stood at 151,343.

Deputy Director of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath said the new variants of the virus were a cause of concern. 

"We fear the new infections could increase in the next few weeks. It is very important for people to remain indoors," he said.