In an effort to halt the coronavirus spread, India
has announced that all visas, barring a select few categories, will be
suspended for a month.
Visa free travel afforded to overseas citizens of the country has also been
suspended until April 15.
The move is expected to impact tourism, hotel and aviation industries in
what will be more bad news for the slowing economy.
According to the health ministry, India has 73 confirmed cases of the virus.
This number is expected to grow in coming days, as the results for tests
conducted earlier become available.
The advisory, issued on March 11, says that only diplomatic, official,
employment and project visas will be exempt from the current restrictions,
which take effect on March 13 and will be reviewed again in a month.
However, it has said that even those allowed in could be subject to 14 days
of quarantine and has warned against “non-essential travel”.
The health ministry says India was among the first countries in the world to
prepare for an outbreak of the respiratory illness.
However, there are concerns about whether India will be fully equipped to
prevent and treat an outbreak.
Officials in the southern state of Karnataka have invoked the provisions of
a 123-year-old legislation to ensure that patients suspected to have shown
symptoms of Covid-19 do not run away from being treated at hospitals or violate
home quarantine norms.
The provision that has been invoked under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897
says that any person or organization or institution that violates the
regulations will be prosecuted.
Karnataka was prompted to enact the legislation after a passenger from
Dubai, who was tested at the Mangalore airport and was found to have mild
fever, ran away from a government hospital where he was taken for observation.
The travel restrictions are also expected to badly hit several key sectors
of India’s economy.
India’s leading domestic airline, IndiGo, has already said that it expects
its quarterly earnings to be materially impacted because of the virus.
The car industry, which is a key economic indicator, has also warned that
production could be badly hit as 10% of its raw materials come from China.
Moody’s also downgraded India’s expected growth to 5.3%.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled
the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic.
WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of cases outside
China had increased 13-fold over the past two weeks.
A pandemic is a disease that is spreading in multiple countries around the
world at the same time.
However, the WHO chief said that calling the outbreak a pandemic did not
mean it was changing its advice about what countries should do.
Dr. Tedros called on governments to change the course of the outbreak by
taking “urgent and aggressive action”.
He said: “Several countries have
demonstrated that this virus can be suppressed and controlled.
“The challenge for many countries
who are now dealing with large clusters or community transmission is not
whether they can do the same – it’s whether they will.”
Governments had to “strike a fine balance between protecting health,
minimizing disruption and respecting human rights”.
He added: “We’re in this together
to do the right things with calm and protect the citizens of the world. It’s
doable.”
Earlier, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70% of the
country’s population – some 58 million people – could contract the coronavirus.
Angela Merkel said since there was no known cure, the focus would fall on
slowing the spread of the virus.
Some German virologists dispute the high figure. Former federal government adviser
on disease control, Prof. Alexander Kekulé, told German media he saw a worst
case scenario of 40,000 cases.
The number of confirmed cases in Germany has risen to 1,567 from 1,296, the
Koch institute for infectious diseases said.
In Italy, where there are 12,447 confirmed cases, PM Giuseppe Conte has
announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues
across the country.
On March 11, Italian health officials said the death toll there had risen to
827 from 631. Nearly 900 people with the virus in Italy were in intensive care,
the WHO’s emergencies head Michael Ryan said.
Dr. Ryan said the situation in Iran – where there were 354 deaths among
9,000 cases – was “very serious”. The WHO had sent 40,000 testing
kits to Iran but there was still a shortage of ventilators and oxygen.
He said: “Iran and Italy are
suffering now but I guarantee you other countries will be in that situation
very soon.”
France said there had been 48 deaths in the country, an increase of 15 from
March 10. There are 2,281 confirmed cases. Coronavirus-linked restrictions have
been extended to two more areas, France’s health minister said.
In the western US, Washington state is banning some large gatherings in
certain areas and has told all school districts to prepare for possible
closures in the coming days. The governor of Seattle’s King County said he
expected a serious coronavirus outbreak within weeks.
In the eastern US, New York’s governor announced that troops would be sent
into New Rochelle, in an attempt to contain an outbreak of the virus, as the
total number of US cases passed 1,000 on March 11.
A one-mile containment zone was in force around the town north of Manhattan.
Some individuals have been quarantined.
A number of countries have imposed sweeping travel restrictions. India has
suspended most visas for foreigners until April 15. Guatemala is banning
European citizens from entering from March 12.
Music festivals and other major events in the US, including Coachella
festival in California, have been canceled or postponed. The E3 gaming show set
for Los Angeles in June is among those canceled.
Thousands of flights have been canceled worldwide as airlines struggle to
cope with a slump in demand.
UK health minister Nadine Dorries announced she had tested positive for
coronavirus and was self-isolating at home.
Several countries – including Sweden and Bulgaria, as well as the Republic
of Ireland – have recorded their first deaths, while the number of confirmed
cases in Qatar jumped from 24 to 262.
China – where the virus was first detected – has seen a total of 80,754
confirmed cases and 3,136 deaths. However, China recorded its lowest number of
new infections, just 19, on March 10.
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