NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: All incoming international flights to India will be banned for one week starting from Sunday, the government said on Thursday as it announced the latest raft of measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meanwhile appealed to the 1.3 billion population to follow a one-day curfew alongside a ban on international flight arrivals.
Modi said in an address to the nation that the curfew on Sunday from 7:00am to 9:00pm would test the giant country’s ability to take tough measures against what he called a growing “crisis”.
The government said in a statement that “no scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22”. All citizens above 65 and children under 10 were advised to “remain at home”.
States were also directed by the national government to enforce work from home policies in the private sector, apart from those in emergency or essential services. Some government employees are set to stagger their
shifts and alternate working in the office.
New Delhi has already suspended the visas of all incoming tourists and barred passengers of flights from the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Travellers from several countries are also subject to a 14-day quarantine when they arrive in India.
The government says there have been 173 positive cases and four deaths from the virus.
Lav Agarwal, joint secretary at the health ministry, said on Thursday there was “no community transmission of the virus in the country”.
Pakistan cases rise
Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed its first coronavirus-related death as the number of infections climbed to almost 300 in the past 48 hours, officials said.
The 50-year-old man, who died in the north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, had returned from Saudi Arabia a week ago, regional health minister Taimur Jhagra said.
The patient could not be saved, despite having been put on aventilator on Wednesday, according to a doctor in the city of Mardan, where the death occurred.
Pakistan confirmed at least 50 new infections on Wednesday bringing the total number of cases in the county to 296. Most cases were recorded in the southern province of Sindh.
Staff at government offices will be cut by 50 per cent and rotated weekly as a precaution against the further spread of the disease.
Sindh and other regions have been placed under partial lockdown, withall shops and businesses shuttered except pharmacies and grocerystores.
Prime Minister Imran Khan asked Pakistanis to prepare for the pandemic in a speech late on Tuesday.
“I want to tell you that the virus will spread further in the country,” Khan said in a televised address to the nation.
He advised social distancing and told citizens not to rush to hospital with minor symptoms.
Khan asked people not to panic: “Together we will win this war against the virus,” he said.
The majority of Pakistan’s cases stem from Taftan, a border town where hundreds have been quarantined after returning from neighbouring Iran.
Sri Lanka puts off poll
Sri Lanka has indefinitely postponed parliamentary elections that were scheduled for next month to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
“Even if the WHO says Sri Lanka is free of this virus tomorrow, we will not be able to conduct the election on April 25,” election chief Mahinda Deshapriya said on Thursday.
“Whether we can have the vote in May, June or July will depend on how quickly the virus can be tackled’’.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had been hoping the elections would give his party a two-thirds majority in parliament, allowing it to change the constitution and secure him wider powers.
Sri Lanka has 53 cases of the virus. This week the country closed its international airports and placed an area home to 850,000 people under curfew.
No Philippine visas
The Philippines temporarily suspended issuing visas to all foreigners to the country as part of efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus in the country, the foreign minister said.
“Starting today, all our embassies and consulates will temporarily suspend visa issuance to all foreign nationals as well as the visa-free entry privileges of all foreign nationals,” Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said.
“Moreover, all previously issued Philippine visas to foreign nationals are deemed cancelled,” he said in a tweet, adding that visas issued to foreign spouses and children of Filipino nationals are still valid. — AFP/dpa
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
