Covid-19: Sri Lanka ends domestic travel restrictions amidst warnings

Colombo, October 31

Sri Lanka’s inter-provincial travel ban, which was imposed in May due to the raging third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, ended on Sunday despite warnings from medical professionals.

The travel ban was continued despite the government ending the quarantine curfew on October 1, which was continuously in force from August 20.

Public Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama said that transport services would come into operation from Monday.

The lifting of the travel ban came as the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) warned of a possible new wave with restrictions being relaxed.

In a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the SLMA said it was more important than ever before the precise steps are taken at this point of time.

It recommended close monitoring as health guidelines are not being implemented and the general public keeps disregarding them.

They recommend a third dose or a Pfizer vaccine booster to priority groups such as the elderly and the frontline health workers.

The SLMA cited recent studies which have shown that seven per cent of the elderly population, who had been administered with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, have not developed adequate level of immunity against the virus.

With the public movement increasing, the SLMA said that the risk of elderly people getting the virus has increased and they are more prone than other groups to severe conditions and death.

The health ministry’s epidemiology unit said that as of Saturday, over 15.4 million of the island’s 21 million population had received at least one dose. Also, 13.4 million had received both jabs.

Sri Lanka’s death toll since the outbreak in March 2020 stood at near 13,800 with over 540,000 infections. PTI