Germany also lists India as coronavirus “high incidence area”
Iran said on Saturday that it would bar travellers from India over a COVID-19 variant to avert its spread in the already stricken country.
Officials, however, did not say if any cases of the variant first identified in India in late March had been detected in Iran, the epicentre of the pandemic in the Middle East.
“The Indian coronavirus is a new threat we face,” President Hassan Rouhani said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
“The Indian virus is more dangerous than the English and Brazilian variants,” he added.
“All the eastern provinces should make sure people infected with the virus do not cross the borders into the country,” Rouhani said. Iran’s eastern provinces border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. Visitors can also travel Iran by way of the Gulf.
Meanwhile, Germany has classified India, Qatar, Oman, Tunisia and Cape Verde as new coronavirus “high incidence areas” due to the number of infections there, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Friday.
People returning to Germany from high incidence areas must register with the German authorities before travelling and then quarantine on their return.
Germany has downgraded Albania and Moldova to risk areas, from high risk areas, the RKI said.
Iran’s civil aviation organisation announced on local media that all flights to and from India and Pakistan would be halted from midnight Sunday.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki has asked the interior minister to “halt the direct and indirect transport of travellers from India”, Iranian media reported.
Indonesia will also stop issuing visas for foreigners who have been in India in the past 14 days to prevent the spread of different coronavirus strains, a government minister said on Friday.
“The government has decided to stop issuing visas for foreigners who have lived or visited India in the past 14 days,” chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Friday.
The curbs follow the arrival in Indonesia of a chartered flight from Chennai carrying 129 people, 12 of which had tested positive for COVID-19. Samples had been taken for genomic sequencing, said health minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
“Lots of people still enter Indonesia,” he said. “We must be careful of those entering from South Asian countries.”
Indonesians arriving from India will be allowed to enter, however, but must follow stricter health protocols and quarantine.
Canada’s government has already temporarily barred passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days starting on Thursday as part of stricter measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that while Indian citizens accounted for 20% of all international arrivals, they represented over 50% of the positive tests conducted by Canadian airport officials.
“By eliminating direct travel from these countries, public health experts will have the time to evaluate the ongoing epidemiology of that region and to reassess the situation,” she told a news conference.
Britain said earlier that India would be added to its “red-list” of locations from which most travel is banned due to a high number of COVID-19 cases. In addition, France has imposed a 10-day quarantine for travelers from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and India, while the United Arab Emirates has suspended all flights from India. (Agencies)