NEW DELHI : India on Wednesday decided to bar the entry of foreigners and kept on hold the visa-free facility granted to Overseas Citizen of India cardholders from 1200 GMT Friday adding to measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a Twitter post, the government said all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, those of international organisations, employment and project visas have been suspended till 15 April.

#CoronaVirusUpdate



2. Visa free travel facility granted to OCI card holders is kept in abeyance till April 15th 2020. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on 13th March 2020 at the port of departure. — Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 11, 2020

A tweet by the ministry of health and family welfare advised foreign nationals desirous of travelling to India for compelling reasons to contact the nearest Indian mission.

All incoming travellers, including Indians, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain, and Germany, will be quarantined for at least 14 days, the government decided at the second meeting of the group of ministers headed by Union health and family welfare minister Harsh Vardhan. These countries are the worst affected by the deadly novel coronavirus. People have been strongly advised against undertaking any non-essential overseas trip, with the government cautioning that they could be quarantined for 14 days on their return.

#CoronaVirusUpdate



4. All incoming travelers, including Indians, arriving from or having visited China,Italy,Iran,Republic of Korea, France, Spain & Germany after 15th Feb, 2020 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days. — Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 11, 2020

International traffic through land borders will be restricted to designated check posts with robust screening facilities, said another tweet by the health ministry.

The government said it will make provisions to test students and other compassionate cases in Italy, the most affected country after China, the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak.

As many as 121,564 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported so far across the world with 4,373 people succumbing to the disease, according to data available on Johns Hopkins University website.

Of total cases, China has reported 80,969 cases with 3,046 deaths, while Italy has had 10,149 people affected, out of which 631 have died.

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