The United Arab Emirates on Thursday announced that it will suspend all its flights between Dubai and India for ten days starting from April 25 due to the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
The move by the Gulf nation’s airline to stop flights comes days after Britain imposed its strictest travel curbs on India and after Prime Minister Boris Johnson called off a trip to New Delhi. France has said it will also impose a 10-day quarantine for travelers arriving from India.
In a statement, the UAE said arrival passengers from India through other countries are not allowed to enter unless they were staying for 14 days in those countries.
However, the departure and cargo flights between UAE and India will continue to operate. UAE citizens, diplomatic delegations, official delegations and flights of businessmen are the categories which are exempted from this restriction.
India is in the midst of a full-blown COVID-19 crisis, with even big private hospital chains sending SOS tweets for oxygen supply.
India is in the midst of a second COVID-19 wave, surging ahead of Brazil to become the second-most affected country in the world. With second wave of the pandemic overwhelming India, a third mutation in this B.1.617 variant which has been found now in four Indian states is going to pose a big challenge to the health authorities in India.