Australia, on Tuesday, joined a growing list of countries that have banned flights from India amid a raging second wave of the novel coronavirus, news agency AFP reported.
The suspension of flights will remain in place until at least May 15 following the "clearly present" risks of travel from India, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. The ban on passenger flights leaves thousands of Australians, including cricketers currently taking part in the Indian Premier League, stranded.
Besides Australia, several other countries, including UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have also banned travellers from India as the novel coronavirus envelopes India once again.
The United States, too, has issued an advisory to its citizens to avoid travelling to India. In its statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said: "Because of the current situation in India, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to India. If you must travel to India, get fully vaccinated before travel. All travellers should wear a mask, stay 6 feet from others, avoid crowds and wash their hands."
On April 23, a minister in the Indonesian government said the country would stop issuing visas to foreigners, who had been to India in the past 14 days, to contain the spread of the contagion.
According to a
MoneyControl report, Indonesia's chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto said the government decided to stop issuing visas to foreigners, who have lived or visited India in the past 14 days, based on observations of the impact of a "double mutant" strain of COVID-19 in India.
Before Indonesia, France, on April 21, announced a 10-day quarantine for travellers arriving from India to prevent the spread of the COVID19 variant that has wreaked havoc in India. France has also banned all flights from Brazil and requires quarantine for passengers from Argentina, Chile and South Africa.
India is in the thick of the second wave of the novel coronavirus, registering over 300,000 cases for the sixth consecutive day on Monday. The country's healthcare infrastructure is faced with perhaps the biggest-ever crisis as people struggle for beds, oxygen supply and ventilators. India on Monday recorded another 3.32 lakh new COVID19 cases and 2,766 deaths in the last 24 hours, the seventh consecutive day when the death toll crossed the 2000-mark.
First Published: Apr 27, 2021 11:24 AM IST
