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Indian tourist arrivals plummet 

06 May 2021

  • 5.5% Indian arrivals Covid positive: SLTDA data 

  • Only 26 tourists in May so far 

BY Pamodi Waravita and Dinitha Rathnayake   The number of tourist arrivals from India this week has decreased drastically, with 4 May recording the lowest number of arrivals – a single tourist, according to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) data.  Speaking to The Morning yesterday (5), the SLTDA Chairperson Kirmarli Fernando said that on the first three days of May, there were 10, nine, and six tourist arrivals from India, respectively.  All of these are tourists who were issued visas prior to 29 April, as the issuance of Sri Lankan tourist visas to Indian passport holders was suspended on that day, as exclusively reported by The Morning earlier this week.  Fernando further said that from the 829 Indian tourists who have arrived between 1 April and 4 May, 46 had tested positive for Covid-19.  “This means that 5.5% of Indian tourists who arrived in the country since April have tested positive for Covid-19. From the 46 Covid-19 positive cases, only one needed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) treatment, which was done at a private hospital. All others were treated at intermediary treatment centres in private hotels or private hospitals,” said Fernando.  SLTDA data shows that from the 829 Indian tourist arrivals since 1 April, 151 had arrived between 29 April and 2 May. Thus, in the first four weeks of April, 57, 116, 158, and 333 Indian tourists have arrived in the country.  According to Fernando, when the tourism bio bubble was implemented in January this year, it was done so under strict Ministry of Health guidelines, which did not distinguish between nationalities.  “The tourists who arrived in Sri Lanka from January onwards had to be quarantined in hotels for 14 days if they were not fully vaccinated. However, Sri Lankan citizens who were not vaccinated on arrival were permitted to leave the hotels within seven days for home quarantine. Therefore, the tourism quarantine route was stricter,” noted Fernando.  Furthermore, Fernando said that since all tourists had purchased a Covid-19 health insurance coverage scheme of $ 50,000, they did not impose a financial burden on the Government.  However, news reports last week alleged that some hotels had started selling ‘quarantine packages’ to those arriving from India, who would then travel to another country after the 14 day period. When inquired, Fernando said that strict measures were taken to ensure that this would not lead to a spread of the virus in Sri Lanka.  “Some travel agents started to promote quarantine tourism following the Health Ministry’s health guidelines. Due to this, the SLTDA immediately issued guidelines stricter than those of the Health Ministry and made it mandatory for guests to remain in the room. We referred to such hotels as Safe and Secure Level Two hotels and ensured that they did not enter the community at any point during their quarantine stay in Sri Lanka - not even to use the hotel’s common facilities,” said Fernando.  However, the Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists claimed that around 50% of staff at a hotel in Dambulla (20 out of 40) had been infected with Covid-19, with the Association’s President Ravi Kumudesh claiming that according to their sources, a group of Indians who had arrived in the country and were undergoing two weeks of quarantine at the time had also been quarantined at the same hotel.  “Around 100 of them stayed at this hotel but their first and second polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were negative before they left the country. But the staff became Covid-19 positive afterwards.”  According to Kumudesh, these PCR tests were done by a private laboratory.  “This is complicated. Since these staff members didn’t approach anyone outside, besides these Indians, how could they have been infected with Covid-19? We have a doubt that these private laboratories are pleasing the customers with negative PCR test results,” Kumudesh alleged.  The Morning exclusively reported this week that Sri Lanka halted the issuance of tourist visas to those arriving from India on 29 April due to the escalating Covid-19 pandemic situation in the subcontinent. The Covid-19 risk level in Sri Lanka was increased to ‘Alert Level Three’ at the end of April, due to an increasing number of positive cases and reports of more patients requiring ICU facilities due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, over 350,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported from India on 4 May.

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