Govt. prohibits entry of passengers from EU countries till March 31
With the cases of the coronavirus swelling in the country, the government on Monday prohibited entry of passengers from EU countries, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31. The Union health ministry also said four new coronavirus cases — one each from Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala, have been reported, taking the total number of cases to 114 on Monday. These cases include 10 discharged, three cured and two reported deaths.
Key Highlights
- After the Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting, the government has proposed social distancing measures to be in force till March 31, the ministry officials told reporters.
- The ‘contact tracing activity’ of these positive cases has led to identification of more than 5,200 contacts, who are kept under surveillance.
- “Travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and United Kingdom to India is prohibited with effect from 18th March 2020.”
- No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on 18th March 2020. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure.
- Both these instructions are temporary measures and shall be in force till March 31 2020 and will be reviewed subsequently.
While European Union consists of 27 countries spread across Europe, European free trade association constitutes four members that Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. This ban follows a recent ban on entry foreign passport holders and Overseas Indian Citizen (OCI) cardholders into the country starting Friday last week. However, Indian passport holders were allowed to enter India.
This ban is set to impact flight operations of many airlines, who will now have to cancel flights into India till the end of this month.
SOURCE: The Indian Express, Livemint
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