Sri Lanka gradually opening up to international tourism

Sri Lanka gradually opening up to international tourism

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Various ambassadors in Kuwait were interviewed by Kuwait Times to learn more about their local traditions and culture during Ramadan. We also asked about the current coronavirus situation in their respective countries and how they are handling and reacting to this pandemic. Excerpts from Kuwait Times’ interview with Sri Lankan Ambassador to Kuwait Othman Lebi Mohammad Johar:

Kuwait Times: How is Sri Lanka managing the pandemic?

Othman Lebi Mohammad Johar: Sri Lanka is doing great in controlling the pandemic. To date, we only have 95,000 cases with a death toll of 598. Our country is an island nation and can only be accessed by air or sea if you are from overseas, so the chances of getting infected with COVID-19 are minimized. During the first wave of the pandemic, we managed to stop transmission by shutting down our borders, and we were able to stop the entry of the virus in the country at that time. Even our own people were temporarily not allowed to enter the country.

We imposed a lockdown at that time, limited travel and completely stopped the entry of foreigners. We stopped international tourism and did not allow home quarantine. Sri Lankans overseas are now allowed