Iran to ban travellers from India amidst fears of COVID-19 mutation

Iranian Administration, on April 24, said that it would bar travellers from India over a coronavirus mutant to avert its spread in the country. The COVID-19 caseload in the Islamic Republic has already surpassed two million and a stringent lockdown has been imposed to tackle the fourth wave of infection. Battered with poverty and crisis, the Hassan Rouhani administration announced the commencement of the country’ mass vaccination drive earlier in April using Russia’s Sputnik V shots.

The Indian coronavirus is a new threat we face,” President Hassan Rouhani said in remarks broadcast on state TV. Without revealing if any cases from the Indian mutation were detected in Iran he said that it was “more dangerous” than the English and Brazilian variant. Additionally, he also instructed eastern provinces to ascertain that the virus does not cross the boundaries in the country.

Meanwhile, Iranian civil aviation has stated that the organisation announced on local media that all flights to and from India and Pakistan would be halted from April 25 Midnight. Amidst the threat of a  SARS-CoV-2 variant discovered recently in India, a barrage of countries has imposed an immediate travel ban to and from India. The list of countries includes Hong Kong, Pakistan UK, US, New Zealand, UAE amongst others.

Kuwait suspends flights from India 

On April 24, another Middle Eastern state Kuwait suspended all direct flights coming from India until further notice. The decision was announced by Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which reasoned that the step was taken to prevent further spread of COVID-19 into the country as India battles a second wave. Explaining further in a Twitter statement, it said that all passengers arriving from India either directly or via another country will be banned from entering unless they have spent at least 14 days out of India.

However, as an exception, all Kuwaiti citizens and their domestic workers arriving from India would be allowed to enter the country. Additionally, there will be no change in the operation of freight flights. According to the latest tally by John Hopkins University, Kuwait has registered over 264 thousand cases and more than 1500 related fatalities. 

(Image Credits: Iran Air/Facebook)