Primary Health Services, Epidemiology and COVID-19 State Minister Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle took part in a random inspection of the Bandaranaike International Airport ahead of the proposed opening of the airport on 26 December.

Expressing her views to the media following the visit, the State Minister stated that one of the main objectives of the visit was to observe the procedure on how to process travellers arriving in Sri Lanka while adhering COVID-19 health guidelines.

She noted that this step was important as the country is planning to launch a pilot programme to open the island for a limited number of foreign travellers for tourism as well.

As per the programme, the travellers has to produce a negative PCR test prior to arrival in Sri Lanka and then undergo a quarantine period following the arrival in the country. Afterwards, the travellers will be allowed to visit locations in Sri Lanka in groups.

Speaking further, the State Minister stated that by conducting this pilot project, they can identify the areas that need to developed as well as the areas that are up to standards and satisfactory. She noted that the idea of the project was gradually open the country for tourism.

Responding to a question, the State Minister stated that the Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) are used to isolated COVID infected persons who has a higher ‘viral load’ in their system from a population and that PCR tests are the best method to identify if a person is infected with the virus. Therefore, at the airports, it is sensible to carry out PCR tests rather than RATs, the subject minister pointed out.