Sri Lanka on Thursday announced that all arrivals from India will be banned with immediate effect due to the record rise in COVID-19 cases in India.

Several countries like the UK, the UAE, Australia and Singapore have already banned travellers from India as well as other South Asian countries.

Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority today said that travellers from India will not be allowed to disembark in Sri Lanka. The decision has been taken as the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in India, reported NDTV.

The Director General Civil aviation in a letter to the CEO of the national carrier Srilankan Airlines has said, "in accordance with instructions received from health authorities of Sri Lanka due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, it is hereby directed that passengers travelling from India will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka with immediate effect," the report said.

Sri Lanka too is currently experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases, nearly 2,000 new cases have been reported during each of the last 5 days up from average 200 per day up until mid-April.

Described as the New Year cluster coming from the traditional New Year festivities mid April, the current wave is from the fast spreading UK variant, the health authorities said.

Sri Lanka had functioned as a transit hub for Indians visiting other destinations like West Asia and Singapore prior to which they needed to be quarantined for 14 days. This was an arrangement by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.