Colombo, Jun 1 (IANS): Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority said that it decided to temporarily halt all arrivals from Vietnam until further notice due to the rapid spread of Covid-19.

State Minister of Aviation and Export Zones Development D.V. Chanaka told reporters here on Monday that although Sri Lanka would re-open its international airports from June 1 for all arrivals, travellers from Vietnam will not be allowed until further notice, Xinhua news agency.

The Mminister said this will also apply to those who had transited at Vietnamese airports and who had visited Vietnam for tourism within the past 14 days.

This decision was taken due to the spread of hybrid versions of the Covid-19 virus within Vietnam, he added.

The Sri Lankan government suspended all passenger arrivals into the island nation from May 21 in order to prevent a further spread of the disease.

Sri Lanka is facing the third wave of the pandemic with a rapid spread of a new variant of the virus which infected over 60,000 people in May.

The country's overall caseload has increased to 186,364, while the death toll stood at 1,441.