COVID-19: Govt bans entry of passengers from Europe from Mar 18 to 31

Amid the coronavirus pandemic across the globe, the government on Monday prohibited the entry of passengers from European countries and Turkey as a precautionary measure from March 18 to 31.

The government also announced to expand the minimum quarantine for people travelling to India from UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.

Addressing a press conference here, Ministry of Health Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said, "As a precautionary measure, we are expanding compulsory quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days for passengers coming from or transiting through UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait."

He said the decision will come into effect from March 18 1200 GMT, at the port of first departure.

He also said that the government has prohibited the entry of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and United Kingdom to India with effect from March 18.

"No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on March 18, 2020. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure," he said.

Agarwal said both these instructions are temporary measures and shall be in force till March 31, and will be reviewed subsequently.

India on Monday reported four fresh cases of COVID-19 taking the total tally of affected people to 114 with 13 cured and two deaths.

The four new cases have been reported from Kerala, Odisha, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir. IANS