Spain, Italy, Philippines, Cambodia impose restrictions on travellers from India, Australia suspends direct flights
The first case of the Indian variant of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Switzerland, the Federal Office for Public Health (BAG) said, as other countries introduce travel bans to contain its spread.
On the other hand, few more countries including Spain, Italy, Cambodia and Philippines have imposed restrictions on travellers coming from India. Australia has now suspended all direct flights from India until at least May 15.
The case in Switzerland involved a passenger who arrived in Switzerland via a transit airport and not directly from India, which has been hit hard by a massive wave of infections in recent days, the BAG said on Twitter.
The test took place at the end of March, BAG told Reuters on Sunday, adding the person entered Switzerland via a European country.
BAG said consultations were now underway on whether to add India to its list of high-risk countries, from where people must immediately go into quarantine upon arrival in Switzerland.
“The reason for this is the rapid spread of the variant in the country,” a spokesman said, referring to India, adding there was currently no accurate information on how infectious or how much more dangerous the new variant was.
Meanwhile, Italy has joined other countries by imposing restrictions on travel from India to avert the spread of a COVID-19 variant as the Asian nation struggles with a surge in infections.
Italy’s Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Twitter he had signed an order barring foreign travellers who have been in India in the past 14 days from entering the country.
India, which is facing a health crisis, is battling a “double mutant” strain of COVID-19.
Italian residents will be allowed to return from India with a negative test result at their departure and one at their arrival and then have to go into quarantine, the minister said.
Those already in Italy and who travelled from India in the past 14 days were requested to undergo a swab. “Our scientists are at work to study the new Indian variant,” Speranza said.
In Manila, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement on Tuesday that travellers coming from India or those with travel history to that country within the last 14 days before arrival will be banned from entering the Philippines from April 29 to May 14.
Nearby Cambodia also announced a similar ban, effective Thursday, to also cover people who have been to India as far back as three weeks. Both Cambodia and the Philippines have seen big jumps in case numbers in recent weeks.
Similarly, Spain will enforce a quarantine on all travellers from India in response to the emergence of a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus there, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero said on Tuesday.
As there are no direct flights from India to Spain, the measure will apply to those who travelled via third countries, Montero said.
Down under, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday that direct flights from India are being suspended until at least May 15 to prevent more virulent COVID-19 strains entering the country. He also refused to prioritise its Indian Premier League (IPL) cricketers for repatriation from India. Morrison said the cricketers would not be allowed to jump the queue for repatriation flights when they resume. (Reuters)