The government, on the recommendation of the National Command and Operation Centre, has placed strict restrictions on travellers from 26 countries, including India, to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections in the country.
The NCOC, a nerve centre to synergise effort against the pandemic, has placed these countries in the “C category” and revised the inbound air and land travel categories with an immediate effect.
“Countries in A category are exempted from the mandatory Covid-19 test, travellers from areas in B category require a negative polymerase chain reaction test that must be taken within 72 hours of the travel date while countries in C category are restricted and people can travel only under specific NCOC guidelines,” an official from the Ministry of National Health Services said.
The list of 26 countries includes India, Iran, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Tunisia, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Namibia, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Uruguay in the C category list.
Apart from the nations in the “C category”, the rest have been included in the “B category” and passengers from these countries will be required to present a negative RT-PCR test result.
The development comes as the nation reported 1,239 new cases and 56 deaths in the last 24 hours.
