More on Covid-19

NEW DELHI: In further restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19, the government on Thursday imposed a blanket ban on commercial international airlines from operating to India for a week from March 22. The government has already imposed a temporary ban on foreigners, by suspending most visas, from entering India.“No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22, 2020, for one week,” the government said in an advisory.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation told airlines, both Indian and foreign, that no passenger flight will take off from any airport outside the country for any airport in India after 5.30am IST (0000 hours GMT) on Sunday (March 22).The government also directed Metros, railways, buses and airlines to decrease frequency of services and consider alternative seating to ensure social distancing. “Effective disinfection and crowd management be ensured in places like railway stations, Metro stations, bus stands, and airports,” the advisory said.These flights must reach India before 1.31am IST on Monday, allowing a maximum travel time of 20 hours — good enough for even the longest non-stop to India which is San Francisco-Delhi at 16-17 hours. After 1.32 am Monday, no international commercial passenger aircraft will be allowed to disembark passengers, whether Indian or foreign, on Indian soil.Passenger flights from abroad to India can resume from 5.30am IST on March 29, the DGCA circular said.Apart from the travel restriction, the government also advised that children below 10 years of age and those above 65 years stay at home. “State governments shall issue appropriate directions so that all citizens above 65 (other than for medical assistance), except for public representatives or government servants or medical professionals, are advised to remain at home,” the advisory said.The decisions were taken at a meeting of the group of ministers headed by health minister Harsh Vardhan . The health ministry reported 148 Indian nationals and 25 foreign nationals had tested positive for Covid-19 till 5 pm and this included 20 cured and four deaths.The government directed Metros, railways, buses and airlines to decrease frequency of services and consider alternative seating to ensure social distancing. “Effective disinfection and crowd management be ensured in places like railway stations, Metro stations, bus stands, and airports,” the advisory said.The government maintained that these were preventive measures and there was no evidence of community transmission so far. On Wednesday, TOI had reported out that of 820 random samples of people with influenza-like illness , there were no positives for Covid-19, indicating that community spread was not yet happening.“These are all preventive steps. There is no reason for panic in the community. There is a need to be prepared. There is no community transmission but the community needs to take precautions,” health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said.The ministry said the department of pharmaceuticals and the ministry of consumer affairs had been asked to take action against anyone charging exorbitant prices for masks, sanitisers and other health-related materials.To discourage unnecessary travel and to prevent the vulnerable category of senior citizens from undertaking unnecessary travel, concessional booking of all tickets except for patients, students and Divyangjan category for unreserved and reserved segment have been suspended form midnight of March 20.Meanwhile, on March 21, air India Dreamliner with 236 capacity will go to Rome to evacuate Indians stranded there, civil aviation ministry said.With India banning international flights from March 22, fares have shot up for flights from foreign destinations. According to travel portal ixigo, the average one-way fare on London-Mumbai was Rs 32,219 on March 13 which shot up 34% to Rs 43,183 for March 20. Similarly, one-way fares for London-Bengaluru shot up 63% from Rs 28,528 (March 13) to Rs 46,558 (March 20). Paris-Delhi rose 16% from Rs 30,470 on March 14 to Rs 35,310 on March 21.“Average one way airfares for March 19 to 21 for Sydney-Delhi are an average of Rs 40,870. Emirates one-way Sydney-Delhi for March 20 is going as high as Rs 79,797. Average one-way airfares for March 19 to 21 for San Francisco-Delhi is Rs 44,525; Toronto-Delhi is Rs 58,123 and Melbourne-Mumbai is Rs 34,805 with flights on this route like Cathay Pacific going as high as Rs 59,363 for March 20,” said an ixigo statement.