The government announced that they will temporarily restrict UK flights from tomorrow midnight till December 31. Also, those passengers arriving in India before December 22 should undergo a mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival at the concerned airports.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan however, clarified that there is no need to panic about the new variant of the Coronavirus that has been identified in the UK as the Government of India is on alert. While attending a press conference on Monday, the Union health minister said that the government is fully aware of everything and that there is no reason to panic. Vardhan said the government had done everything to handle the Covid-19 situation in the last one year.
Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to restrict all flights coming from the United Kingdom to India after the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus.
On Sunday, Britain’s health minister announced a strict lockdown imposed on London and southeast England following the detection of the new variant of coronavirus. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have got to get it under control.” He added that the situation was ‘deadly serious.’
On the other hand, on Twitter, US Surgeon General VADM Jerome M Adams wrote, “Even if this variant is more infectious, it doesn’t mean that it is more “dangerous.”
On Saturday, the UK announced the lockdown and even Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to cancel Christmas shopping and gatherings in southern England. The new variant of Coronavirus is 70% more infectious, claim various experts.