England Tests in Sri Lanka to ‘go ahead’ despite new pandemic fears
England’s Test tour to Sri Lanka next month is ‘on schedule’ despite flights from United Kingdom being suspended because of a new coronavirus strain. England is expected to arrive in the island on January 3, 2021 to complete their rescheduled two-match Test series in Galle starting on January 14.
“The tour is on as scheduled,” confirmed Prof. Arjuna de Silva, Head of SLC’s Medical Committee.
“We have had a discussion with the health authorities and we will take all protective measures to play the series on a bio-secure bubble.”
Accordingly the players may have to go through additional health protocols including taking Antigen tests in addition to the PCRs on arrival to the island.
Sri Lankan suspended all direct flights from Britain on Tuesday but will not bar cricketers entering the island as they would arrive here on a chartered flight. After arriving they have to undergo quarantine for 10-days in a ‘bio-secure bubble’.
England’s health authorities this week said that anyone who has been in South Africa in the past two weeks should self-isolate straightaway because of a new variant of the virus there but exempted the cricketers who returned to Britain following their aborted tour South Africa on December 10.
Sri Lankans are currently in South Africa but local health authorities are confident of successfully completing the tour as arrangements there have been more watertight than they were when England were in the country.