Coronavirus: US to restrict travel from India from Tuesday amid devastating surge in cases
- Decision was based on CDC advice in light of extraordinarily high caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the country, White House spokeswoman says
- India has reported more than 19 million Covid-19 infections in total, and a death toll of over 200,000
“The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high Covid-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the India,” she said.
With 401,993 new virus cases, the total number of infections in India has topped 19 million. Deaths from Covid-19 jumped by 3,523 over the past 24 hours, taking the total toll to 211,853, according to official data. Experts believe both figures are an undercount, but it is unclear by how much.
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The South Asian nation opened up vaccinations to all adults on Saturday, although several states warned of acute shortages.
India’s West Bengal state was unable to start a vaccination drive for adults aged between 18 and 45 on Saturday due to shortage of shots and urged the federal government to provide more supplies, a senior state health official said.
The chief minister of the hard-hit state of Delhi on Friday implored people not to queue at vaccination centres, promising more jabs would arrive “tomorrow or the day after”.
India’s eastern Odisha state said on Friday it had received a consignment of 150,000 shots but would only allow a few people to get vaccines due to lockdown restrictions preventing movement.
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US-based Indians feel ‘helpless’ as India grapples with worsening Covid-19 crisis
India needs to shut down the country for a few weeks to control the Covid-19 outbreak, Anthony Fauci, one of the leading global voices on the pandemic, told The Indian Express newspaper in an interview.
A lockdown will end the cycle of transmission in India and provide a window to take immediate, intermediate and long-range steps out of “very difficult and desperate” situation, said Fauci, who’s also Biden’s chief medical adviser.
Additionally, a CDC team of public health experts was expected to soon be on the ground in India to help health officials there move to slow the spread of the virus.
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The White House waited on the CDC recommendation before moving to restrict travel, noting that the US already requires negative tests and quarantines for all international travellers.
Other restrictions are in place on travel from China, Iran, the European Union, Britain, the Republic of Ireland, Brazil and South Africa, which are or have been hotspots for the coronavirus.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg
