Asian countries impose slew of travel bans in effort to curb virus

India, Thailand and Australia on Wednesday announced new restrictions against travellers from countries with high numbers of coronavirus infections, as governments scramble to curb the spread of the disease.

India announced it has suspended all visas granted to nationals from Germany, France and Spain issued on and before Wednesday who have not yet entered the country.
The new advisory came as the number of confirmed virus infections climbed to 60 in India.

The visas of all foreign nationals who have travelled to these three countries since February 1 and have not yet entered India are also suspended, the Health Ministry said.

New Delhi also called for passengers with a recent travel history to mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany to undergo self-imposed quarantine for 14 days from the date of their arrival.

Thailand said it would stop issuing visas on arrival and will cancel visa exemptions for three countries in an effort to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Visitors from some 20 countries can now only obtain visas from embassies until further notice, Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda said on Wednesday.

Anupong also said visa exemptions have been cancelled for visitors from South Korea, Italy, and Hong Kong due to these places’ high risk for 
the virus.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a ban on travellers arriving from Italy, where authorities are battling with Europe’s worst outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The move came after the Rome government put in place severe restrictions on domestic travel. As of Tuesday, Italy had the most cases of the virus outside of China and had recorded more than 460 deaths and more than 10,000 infections.

Australian residents returning from Italy will have to be quarantined for 14 days.

Morrison also announced a 2.4-billion-Australian-dollar (1.56-billion-dollar) health funding package that would focus on virus testing and “looking after elderly and Indigenous Australians,” he said in a press conference Wednesday.

Australia has recorded more than 100 cases of the virus so far and three deaths, according to the latest government statistics.

The outbreak and the travel restrictions that followed have left airlines facing huge reductions in revenue in Asia and around the world.
DPA, 11th MARCH, 2020