Amid the growing number of positive coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the country, the government on Thursday said that no international flight will be allowed to land in India from March 22 for one week.
It also asked the state governments to issue appropriatedirections to all citizens above 65 years of age to remain at home.
The government said in a statement, “No scheduledinternational commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in Indiafrom March 22 for one week.”
The steps came after India recorded 173 active Covid-19cases till 5 p.m. on Thursday, including 25 foreign nationals, as per the dataprovided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Four people havesuccumbed to the dreaded virus so far — one each in Maharashtra, Delhi,Karnataka and Punjab.
Here is the full text of the advisory issued by theGovernment of India:
In continuation of the travel advisories issued on 11thMarch, 16th March and 17th March 2020, the following additional advisory isissued:
1. No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraftshall take off from any foreign airport for any airport in India, after 0001hrs GMT of March 22, 2020 (*i.e. 0531 hrs Indian Standard Time (IST) of March22, 2020). These
instructions shall remain in force till 0001 hrs GMT ofMarch 29, 2020.
2. A maximum travel time of 20 hours is permissible for suchcommercial passenger aircraft to land in India.
3. As such, no incoming scheduled international commercialpassenger aircraft shall be allowed to disembark its passengers *on Indiansoil* (Foreigner or
Indian) after 2001 hrs GMT of March 22, 2020 (*i.e. 0131hrsIST of March 23, 2020).
4. These instructions are in addition to the travelrestrictions/ advisories already issued and under implementation.5. The above are temporary measures to restricttwo more samples that have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ladakh.