Coronavirus Scare: Sri Lanka to quarantine passengers from Italy, Iran, S Korea
Colombo/UNI: Sri Lanka's Health Ministry on Tuesday said that all passengers arriving from Italy, Iran and South Korea would have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period to prevent the COVID-19 from entering the island country.
Director General of Health Services from the Health Ministry Dr Anil Jasingha told in a media briefing that health divisions were on high alert as presently there were no positive cases of the epidemic.
He said passengers arriving from the above three countries would be urged to stay at home or in hospital for a 14-day quarantine, and the details would be shared with the local public health inspectors.
He 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 the arrival of cruise ships into the island country had not been prohibited, but disembarking the passengers was banned considering 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," Dr Jasinghe said.
According to the Health Ministry, there are 18 suspected patients warded at hospitals across the country, who were under the observation of specialised medical teams.
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