Digital Desk, Colombo. Travelers from six African countries, including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, have been banned from entering Sri Lanka from Saturday night due to fear of Omicron, a new variant of the corona in South Africa. Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardene said that passengers who have visited these countries (including transit) in the last 14 days will not be allowed to disembark in Sri Lanka from November 28 and after 12 noon.

Further, irrespective of the status of corona vaccination, travelers aged 12 years and above who have arrived in Sri Lanka on November 26 and 27 from six countries will have to undergo a PCR test, the DG Health Services said. Passengers will have to undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days, even going through a negative test. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan medical experts have also warned that a new corona variant spreading in South Africa could also emerge in Sri Lanka at any time.

Director of the Bureau of Health Promotion, Dr. Ranjit Batuvanthudawa told the media that according to the available information, the vaccines are 40 percent less effective than the new variants. A new variant of the Corona Delta variant named B.1.617.2.104 was found in Sri Lanka on 19 November. Dr Batuvanthudava urged the people to strictly follow the health guidelines and get vaccinated. About 75 percent of the South Asian island nation’s total population has been vaccinated and nearly 400,000 people over the age of 60 have been given a booster dose against the virus. According to the new figures, there are 561,059 cases of coronavirus in Sri Lanka while 14,258 deaths have been recorded.

(IANS)