LNP – Govt. plans to open country within two months: Tourism Minister

The Government has planned to open up the country within two months after vaccinating its citizens at least with a single dose, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunge said today.

He told Parliament that more than three million people who are engaged in the tourism sector are facing numerous hardships due to the pandemic situation in the country.

Responding to a question raised by JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the issues in the tourism s

ector, the Minister said the country has to be opened up to find long-term solutions to the issues faced by the people in the sector.

The Minister said countries such as Singapore has vaccinated 80% of its population and thus have been able to open the country and added that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has also stressed the need to open Sri Lanka within two months after all the people are vaccinated at least with a single jab.

He said tourism was further crippled after the third wave and pointed out that there was no report that the tourists who had visited the country recently under Bio-bubble had resulted in the spread of Covid-19.

The Minister said the new health guidelines issued by the Director General of Health Services allowed tourists who are fully vaccinated to travel within Sri Lanka without being quarantined for 14 days.