COLOMBO (News 1st); All passengers with a travel history to Vietnam, including transit, in the past 14 days will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka with immediate effect until further notice.

The announcement comes from the Director-General of Civil Aviation, Capt. Themiya Abeywickrama to all airlines.

Vietnam detected a Covid variant that appears to be a combination of the Indian and UK variants and can spread quickly by air, officials said over the weekend.

Vietnam’s Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long described the latest mutation on Saturday as “very dangerous”.

• Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate eases to 25.2% in May
• IMF, World Bank, CEB discuss Balance Sheet restructuring
• Sri Lanka relaxes policy stance; Reduces rates by 250 basis points
• President Wickremesinghe to address the nation tonight (1)
• Fuel prices revised from midnight (31)