Amid COVID Surge, US to Restrict Travel From India Starting May 4 | Earth Indian

New Delhi: In the wake of rising COVID cases and multiple strains of the virus in India, the United States has decided to restrict travel from the country starting next week. President Joe Biden’s Spokesperson Jen Psaki said the restrictions were being imposed because “of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in India.” “On the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the administration will restrict travel from India,” Psaki said in a statement.  Travel restrictions will come into force from May 4.

Vice President Kamala Harris who was visiting Cincinnati, said,” We have announced that starting Tuesday on the advice of the CDC (Centres for Disease Control, our COVID-19 experts, medical experts and national security advisors — travel restrictions will come into force for India. There is no question that it (COVID surge in India) is a great tragedy, in terms of the loss of life, and as I have said before, and I will say again, we as a country have made a commitment to the people of India to support them.”

Who Will Be Affected By The Restrictions

  • Non-US citizens except for US legal immigrants will not be allowed into the US if they have been to the countries under the restrictions in the past 14 days.
  • The restrictions cover South Africa, China, Iran, Brazil, Ireland, Britain and the 29 countries belonging to the common visa zone known as the Schengen Area.
  • US citizens and legal residents and their immediate family members are exempt from the restrictions, as also are diplomats, but they are advised to follow precautions. They are asked to test themselves for COVID-19 between three and five days after arrival.
  • If those who are vaccinated test positive, they have to isolate themselves for seven days. Those who are not vaccinated are asked to self-isolate for seven days, regardless of the test results.

 




By Shivam Urkude || Earth Indian

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