India has extended the suspension of all United Kingdom flights till 7 January. The decision was taken keeping in mind the new coronavirus strain, which has grown in the United Kingdom. To date, 20 cases of the latest COVID-19 variant have been registered in India.
Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri pointed out that the suspension would not continue beyond January 7, as controlled flights will restart soon.
“The decision to extend flight suspension from and to the UK till 7 January 2021 has been made. Strictly controlled resumption will take place after that, for which the announcement will be made soon,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said today.
The suspension of flights from the UK from 23 to 31 December was initially announced by India. In addition, COVID-19 RT-PCR checks have been made compulsory by direct or transit flights from Great Britain for all inbound passengers.
Meanwhile, a total of 20 persons returning from the United Kingdom to India today announced that the new UK SARS-CoV-2 variant genome has already been checked positively.
According to ministry data on Wednesday, a total of 20 individuals in India now have the new coronavirus strain.
The Ministry had previously reported in regard to positive samples for the new INSACOG labs that “Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travelers, family contacts, and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on. The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing, and dispatch of samples to INSACOG labs.”
Cases of the latest UK version within their borders have been confirmed so far in Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon, and Singapore.
The Ministry said that approximately 33,000 passengers had arrived from the UK at several Indian airports from 25 November to 23 December at midnight. All such passengers are monitored by states and union territories and are subjected to RT-PCR tests.
UK was one of 23 countries with which India has shared an “air bubble”; the country has a large Indian population, and hundreds of people travel between London and New Delhi and London and Mumbai on many occasions every day.
