New Zealand no to travelers from India |
Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, on 8th April, announced a temporary ban on travellers from India starting April 11th due to the massive increase in Covid-19 cases in India. Jacinda told reporters, "I want to emphasize that while the arrival of COVID from India has prompted this measure, we are looking at how we manage high-risk points of departure generally. This is not a country-specific risk assessment,". The suspension of entry for all travelers, including New Zealand`s own citizens, begins at 4 p.m. local time on April 11 and will be in place until April 28. During this time the government will look at risk management measures to resume travel.The temporary ban comes at a time when India has been reporting over 100,00 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) daily for the past three days. According to India`s Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India`s total case tally has gone up to 12.8 million. Meanwhile, New Zealand has virtually eliminated the virus within its borders and has not reported any community transmission locally for about 40 days. The country has been reviewing its border settings as more people with infections came recently, the majority from India. New Zealand logged 23 new positive coronavirus cases at its border on 8th April, of which 17 were from India. Jacinda Ardern said the rolling average of positive cases has witnessed a steady rise and it hit seven cases on 7th April, which is the nation`s highest since last October. Following the massive spike in cases in India, several states have imposed restrictions on traveling and have made it compulsory for passengers to carry a negative Covid-19 report while crossing borders. The government has speeded up the process of vaccination across the country to immunize more and more people against the virus.
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