Colombo, Dec 17 (IANS): Sri Lanka's health authorities have said that vaccine cards had been made mandatory for all local and foreign tourists who were visiting religious sites in the country in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 infection.

Officials from the Health Ministry said that tourists and locals should carry their vaccine cards with them or show an electronic version of the certificate.

Foreign tourists were requested to carry an English translation of their vaccine cards for travel in Sri Lanka, the Ministry added.

Pilgrims and tourists have also been urged to leave the pilgrim sites immediately after the rituals and tours conclude in order to avoid large gatherings, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sri Lanka has in recent weeks relaxed several restrictions which were enforced when the country faced a massive third wave of the Covid-19 infection since April, caused by the dominant Delta variant.

The country is returning to normalcy and has recorded a rise in tourist arrivals especially since November with tourism promotion campaigns also set to begin in several countries, including in China.

However face masks have been made mandatory for all and social distance must be maintained at all times, the Health Ministry said.

According to official figures, 576,966 positive Covid-19 patients have been reported since March 2020 with 14,677 deaths reported.