Covid Second Wave: UAE Announces 10-Day Ban On Flights From India, Conditional Entry Of Indians From Other Countries

Coronavirus Second Wave: In a statement, the UAE stated arrival passengers from India through other countries are not allowed to enter.

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New Delhi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday announced a temporary ban on flights from India for a period of 10 days starting April 25 (Sunday) in view of the serious Coronavirus second wave being witnessed in the country.

In a statement, the UAE stated arrival passengers from India through other countries are not allowed to enter unless they were staying for 14 days in those countries.

The ban will be imposed for a period of 10 days from April 25 till May 3. Indians who are arriving in UAE from other destinations will be allowed to enter the country only if they have stayed in that other country for at least 14 days.

Meanwhile, according to the statement, the departure and cargo flights between UAE and India will continue to operate.

Emirates Airline confirmed the same while responding to a user's question.

"Hi Anup, carriage of passengers from India will be suspended from 24th April until further notice," the tweet read.

This comes as India continues to battle a serious Coronavirus situation as its total tally of Coronavirus cases rose to 1,59,30,965 with 3,14,835 new infections reported in a day, crossing the dreadful 3-lakh mark. Active cases increased to 22,91,428, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll increased to 1,84,657 with a record 2,104 new fatalities. The number of people who have recovered from the disease also surged to 1,34,54,880.

Previously, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock had made an announcement stating that India has been added to England’s travel “red list”.

Informing that of 103 people in the UK who have so far been found to be carrying the Indian variant, the Health Secretary said the “vast majority” had links to international travel – suggesting at least some have been infected by community transmission.

He said the move had been taken on a “precautionary basis”, adding the scientists were working to see if the variant had any “concerning characteristics” such as being more transmissible or resistant to vaccines.