The Sri Lankan public has raised concerns if the Ukrainian tourists arriving in Sri Lanka will continue to remain in the country indefinitely after Ukraine announced it will be going into a strict lockdown yesterday (08). The new lockdown in the country is at least expected to continue till January 24.
While Ukraine continues to be battered by five Covid 19 strains, its government announced that the lockdown will be imposed to control the spread of the virus. Over 1 million people in Ukraine have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic; about 7,000 new cases are reported daily.
According to the new regulations imposed by the Ukrainian government to be adhered during the lockdown, citizens and even foreigners will be allowed to travel into the country in accordance with safety and health guidelines. Therefore it is unlikely the tour groups will have to remain in Sri Lanka till the lockdown back home is lifted. Ukraine has announced it will only impose self isolation on individuals arriving from countries marked as being in Red zones. However Sri Lanka is not in this list of countries.
But the public in Sri Lanka have voiced their concerns in general about allowing Ukrainian nationals to tour the country at all given the Covid 19 situation in their home country. Health experts too have raised concerns on the possibility of a new strain being introduced to Sri Lanka as a result of the tour groups arriving from Ukraine.
