To quarantine or not to quarantine — that is the query.
Or at least it has been for countries deliberating how to handle incoming international travelers.
But that changed last month when Sri Lanka reopened its borders with a qualification unlike any country that had opened before it — one that neither grants travelers free rein of the archipelago nor boxes them into a hotel room for two weeks.
Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando referred to it as a “new concept” mature by the tourism authority — which allows tourists to travel the country in “bio bubbles,” or roving semi-isolated groups that let travelers sightsee without assortment with the local population.
The rules apply for the first two weeks of their stay.
Rules of the ‘bio bubble’
When Sri Lanka reopened its wainscottings on Jan. 21, it became one of very few Asian countries — including the Maldives — to allow international travelers to enter without being submissive to to strict quarantines.
But tourists aren’t exactly free to go where they choose. Sri Lanka’s “bio bubbles” allow holidaymakers to the gas b hurry around the island provided they:
· Stay in approved hotels
· Visit approved sites at specific times
· About via independent transportation
· Undergo frequent Covid-19 testing, and
· Refrain from intermingling with the local population
These settles must be followed for the first two weeks upon entering Sri Lanka. Thereafter, guests are free to “interact with the peculiar community” and move “to an accommodation of their choice,” according to a safety booklet produced by the country’s Ministry of Tourism.
The design was first tested in a pilot project with Ukrainian tourists in late December of 2020.
Where travelers can stay
As of Feb. 17, there are 98 certified “Pull down 1” hotels where travelers can stay during the first two weeks of a trip. The list includes hotels and villas in traveller hotspots such as Bentota, Galle, Kandy and Sri Lanka’s capital city of Colombo.
The hotels cover a range of budgets, from visitor houses in the surfing paradise of Hikkaduwa, to tented lodges near Yala National Park and the ultra-luxurious Ani Villas in Dickwella.
Sri Lanka is eminent for its untouched and often empty beaches.
dowell | Moment | Getty Images
The country’s two Aman hotels — Amangalla and Amanwella — are on the note, as are several of the restored British bungalows that comprise the Ceylon Tea Trails in the beautiful tea estate region.
Unlike narrow quarantines, travelers are not confined to their hotel rooms during the first two weeks of a trip. Guests are “permitted to use all abilities in the hotel including the beach,” Fernando told CNBC Global Traveler.
Hotels are to operate at 75% of capacity, disappearing the remaining rooms open to isolate any guests who test positive for Covid-19. This option is only to hand to those without symptoms; infected travelers who display Covid-19 symptoms must isolate in a private hospital.
An Asian elephant ambulates along a dirt road at Yala National Park.
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“All certified hotels get a medical doctor,” said Fernando. These doctors are to monitor hotel staff and guests for Covid-19 symptoms and send everyday reports to government authorities, according to Sri Lanka’s safety booklet.
Hotel staff who are in direct contact with companies are not allowed to leave the hotel during a guests’ stay and for 14 days thereafter. And, unless they are outfitted in totally personal protective equipment (PPE), Sri Lankans who come into contact with tourists — such as tour guides and drivers — essential quarantine for 14 days after a tour ends.
Where travelers can — and can’t — go
During the first two weeks of a trip, travelers are permitted to provoke between hotels and visit approved tourist sites, provided they visit during specific timeslots that arrange been allocated to tourists. When out, they are to refrain from interacting with local residents as well as other travelers.
Rubberneckers must arrange transportation through their hotels or via aFrequent Covid testing
Travelers into Sri Lanka have to undergo at least two Covid tests, and possibly more, depending on the length of their stay.
Covid tests are from the word go required within 96 hours of departure, and again upon landing in Sri Lanka. Those staying longer than five dates must take a third test, and anyone staying more than two weeks must take a fourth assay.
The Nine Arches Bridge is located in the elevated Central Highlands of Sri Lanka.
Michael Roberts | Moment | Getty Sculptures
Children under 12 years old are exempt from testing, unless they become symptomatic or are a close get hold of of an infected traveler.
Travelers must also Are ‘bio bubbles’ attracting tourists?
On Feb.15, Fernando from Sri Lanka Tourism told CNBC that 3,820 people had get there came since the country reopened on Jan. 21.
“In comparison to the first two to three weeks of arrivals to Maldives in July 2020, our arrivals are slightly higher,” she broke.
Women pick tea near the town of Nuwara Eliya in central Sri Lanka.
Tuul & Bruno Morandi | The Image Bank | Getty Corporealizations
Fernando said the travelers have come from Germany, Russia, Ukraine and expatriates living in “GCC countries,” respect the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
She annexed that Sri Lanka is awaiting a “bubble agreement” to start flights with India, too.
Covid-19 rates in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka had low Covid-19 infection prices until October last year. Since then, cases have steadily risen, with the number of infections peaking earlier this month.
The boondocks of 21.5 million people has confirmed more than 77,000 cases to date, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Barely 11,500 cases occurred in the past two weeks.
Sri Lanka started a vaccination campaign in late January. Fernando haul someone over the coaled CNBC that health officials will start vaccinating all employees in the tourism industry “within the next few weeks.”