The government has suspended its policy of granting visa on arrival for Chinese travellers on Tuesday (28), a day after the health authorities detected the country's first coronavirus infection.
Sudath Suraweera, the chief epidemiologist of the country's health ministry, said on Monday that a 40-year-old Chinese woman was found positive for the virus.
"She arrived on January 19 and was tested positive for the virus when she was leaving the airport on January 25. She was admitted to the infectious diseases hospital," he said.
Chinese tourists can still visit
Following the first detection of the coronavirus case, the Sri Lankan health authorities ordered the suspension of the on arrival visa policy for the Chinese nationals.
Travellers from China must apply for visa via the online portal, the authorities said.
However, anxiety is growing amid evidence that the disease has an incubation period of as long as two weeks before those infected start to show signs of the illness. That raises the possibility that people who are carrying the virus but don’t show symptoms could infect others.
The Chinese tourist that had contracted the virus spent two weeks in the island before showing any symptoms.
Several countries have placed temporary restrictions on Chinese tourists in an effort to contain the virus from entering their borders.
Sri Lanka has become a major travel destination for Chinese tourists and many Chinese nationals also work on Chinese-funded infrastructure projects - including a sea port, port city and highways.
Leave your comments
Login to post a comment
Post comment as a guest