Update from Sri Lanka Tourism on Covid - 19

Kimarli Fernando
Chairperson - Sri Lanka Tourism

• There are currently two persons with Covid-19 who are now in hospital under treatment, one is a chauffeur guide who accompanied a group of Italian tourists and another person who shared lodging with the guide.
• The total number of patients under observation is 29, to date Sri Lanka has not had any deaths from Covid-19.
• People arriving from Italy, South Korea and Iran will be quarantined in hospital by the government of Sri Lanka for 14 days.
• According to the instructions received from the Ministry of Health, all flights originating from Iran, Italy and South Korea to Sri Lanka will be suspended from 14th March 2020 for two (2) weeks ending 28th March 2020.
• Restriction on Disembarking of passengers arriving from Iran, Italy and South Korea: any passenger who is either originating from Iran, Italy or South Korea or who has been in any of those countries within the last 14 days are strongly advised not to board during the aforementioned period in any of the flights destined to Sri Lanka
• Please note that the Visa on arrival to Sri Lanka has been suspended from all countries until further notice. Hence, it is mandatory to have an online visa prior to your arrival in Sri Lanka.
• If you wish to visit Sri Lanka please apply for your visa online on: http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa prior to your departure or through the respective Sri Lankan Missions.
• Currently, there is a visa fee exemption scheme for 48 countries. Please note the current status regarding China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran. Link: http://www.immigration.gov.
• Sri Lanka is monitoring the situation closely and continues to take all necessary measures and 24 hour monitoring is conducted including body temperature screening machines to detect the virus with the assistance of the Health and Indigenous Medicine Services Ministry and Sri Lanka Army medical teams.
• Passengers of all international flights entering into Sri Lanka from any port are required to furnish duly filled self-declaration form (including personal particulars i.e, phone no, and address in Sri Lanka) and travel history, to Health Officials and Immigration officials at all ports.
• We kindly request the tourists arriving to monitor their health closely for 2 weeks upon entering Sri Lanka and seek medical attention promptly if they have any symptoms.

Kimarli Fernando
Chairperson - Sri Lanka Tourism