Visas granted to foreigners suspended till May 3: govt
The government of India has suspended all existing visas granted to foreigners and all incoming passenger traffic into India through immigration check posts (ICPs) till May 3.
The rules will be applied to all except certain categories, an order issued by the foreigners’ division of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said.
The ministry decided to extend the suspension of all existing visas granted to foreigners, except to those belonging to diplomatic, official, UN or international organisations, and employment and project categories, till May 3 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The ministry further directed that all incoming passenger traffic into India through any of the 107 ICPs shall remain suspended till May 3, which is the last date of the second phase of countrywide lockdown imposed to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19.
Similar restrictions were earlier issued by the home ministry when the first 21-day lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the midnight March 24.
Modi extended the lockdown for another 19 days on Tuesday as the pandemic is still growing in India, claiming 452 lives and the number of active cases going beyond the 11,500-mark.
However, no such restriction would apply on vehicles, planes, ships and trains carrying any goods and supplies, whether essential or non-essential, the government order said.
“Their crew, sailor, driver, helper and cleaner shall also be subjected to thorough medical screening for Covid-19,” it said.
Meanwhile, the health ministry yesterday said that before the lockdown, Covid-19 cases were doubling in three days but the last seven days’ data shows that it is 6.2 days now and in 19 states and Union Territories, the case doubling rate was less than the country’s average.
At the daily press briefing, joint secretary, health, Lav Agarwal, said the reduction in the doubling rate is the product of the management of the health crisis at the field level.
He said that 500,000 rapid antibody test kits are being distributed to states, which are burdened with a high number of positive cases.
“An average growth factor of 1.2 since April 1, 2020, as compared to 2.1 in the two weeks proceeding that (March 15 to March 31) is observed, which is about a 40% decline in growth factor,” he said.
He insisted that before the lockdown, India’s doubling rate was about three days. “For the past seven days, the doubling rate is 6.2 days.
Nineteen states/UTs (Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Ladakh, Himachal, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, UP, Karnataka, J&K, Punjab, Assam, Tripura) are presently showing a higher doubling rate, which is better than the national average, which reflects that rate of increase of cases in these places has been reduced to some extent,” said Agarwal.