Colombo: Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has imposed a travel ban for air passengers flying from Iran, Italy and South Korea.

The travel ban will be in effect for 2 weeks, starting from 14th March, the Chairman of the CAA G. A. Chandrasiri said.

He added that the government has requested all airlines to refrain from transporting passengers from the above mentioned countries due to the coronavirus outbreak, Colombo Gazette reported.

Flights to Sri Lanka from Italy, Iran and South Korea will be temporarily suspended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Sri Lanka, G.A. Chandrasiri announced yesterday.

There was no need to ban Chinese visitors to Sri Lanka as the threat from China has reduced and all passengers arriving from China are carefully monitored before and after they arrive in Sri Lanka, Chandrasiri added.