After the government issued a circular suspending Visa's for several countries, now, people travelling or having visited Italy and South Korea will have to submit a certificate that says the traveller has tested negative for coronavirus from laboratories authorised by health authorities of respective countries.
The measure came into effect from March 10 and will be in effect temporarily till the coronavirus cases subside, an advisory by the health ministry stated.
Media reports stated that 45 Indians are stranded at Rome airport with Emirates airline who is not letting them aboard the flight after restrictions were imposed.
The Indian Embassy in Italy has notified Indian students flying to Inida on or after March 10 that they can submit details by filling an online form.
Moreover, according to the The News Minute, around 300 passengers, most of them Malayalies, had arrived at the airport to board a flight to Kochi. However, the airport authorities told them that they cannot board the flight.
A stranded passenger at Milan airport told TNM that the airport officials had asked them to produce a certificate which is not so easy to get as the procedure will require them to visit coronavirus infected area in order to prove that they have tested negative. "The hospitals are overloaded with coronavirus patients and they would not test those who came without the symptons," he said.
Earlier, the government had suspended visas from several other states -- Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan and China amid intensifying coronavirus tensions. While diplomats and other officials are exempted from the same, they will have to undergo medical screening. Alongside, passengers arriving from several COVID-19 affected countries must undergo screening upon arrival.
So far 58 people have been with the virus in India and 119,311 have been infected globally. Moreover, 4,288 people have died due to virus with China experiencing the highest number of deaths followed by Italy and Iran.
