Sri Lanka bans flights from UK over new Covid-19 variant

Sri Lanka has decided to ban all flights from the United Kingdom in a bid to prevent the new variant of Covid-19 spreading across South England.

President’s Media Division (PMD) said the move will be in effect from today (22).

A group of passengers from the UK, scheduled to arrive in the country today, will be subjected to 14-day quarantine procedure at selected hotels under the observation of health authorities. They will be placed under home-quarantine for 14 more days.

Crews of cargo flights from the UK will also be referred to the quarantine procedure, the PMD said further.

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Italy initially went on to restrict flights from the UK, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the cancellation of Christmas shopping and gatherings in Southern England over the new coronavirus variant.

Now, more than 40 countries including India, Russia, Canada and Hong Kong are following similar actions.

According to John Hopkins University data, the UK has confirmed more than 2 million infections. Meanwhile, fatalities from the virus stand over 67,000 in the European island nation.