‘Deadly Covid-19 wave’; Six countries that have imposed travel bans, restrictions on India

According to details, India has recorded more than 2,000 casualties from coronavirus deaths Wednesday and almost 300,000 new cases, the biggest single-day spike of daily totals since the pandemic began in January last year.

India is presently experiencing the most contagious and deadly wave of coronavirus with record number of cases and fatalities every-day. There are several states in India that are witnessing shortage of oxygen supply, lack of manpower and malfunctioning ventilators, says a report from the Centre. The government has instructed strict enforcement of coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Several states are considering imposing complete lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

In view of ongoing situation, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom (UK) Boris Johnson and Japanese premier Yoshihide Suga have cancelled their trips to India. Moreover, several countries have imposed travel bans and restrictions on passengers:

Pakistan

Due to the emergence of a double-mutant variant of coronavirus in India, Pakistan has implemented a ban on travelers from the neighboring country through air and land routes for the next two weeks.

USA

The government of United Sates of America (USA) on Mondayalso advised its citizens to avoid travelling to India due to the ‘very high level of Covid-19’ present in the country.

UK

After United Kingdom (UK) reported 100 cases of Indian variant of coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a travel ban on arrivals from India from 4am on Friday. Health experts in UK have warned that the Indian variant is spreading fast and might be the cause of surge in infections.

New Zealand

0n April 08, New Zealand suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for a period of two weeks following a high number of positive Covid cases arriving from India.

The move comes after New Zealand reported 23 new positive coronavirus cases at its border out of which 17 were from India.

Shortly afterwards, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the government is temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travellers from India. The ban will come into effect on April 11 and will be in place until April 28.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has imposed a travel ban on India, Pakistan and the Philippines from April 20 for two 14 days after the N501Y mutant Covid-19 strain was detected there.

Singapore

On Tuesday, the government of Singapore announced that the people from India will have to serve an additional seven days stay-at-home notice apart from the usual mandatory 14 days quarantine at a dedicated facility due to the sharp rise in the Covid-19 cases and the emergence of new virus strain in the country.