India Suspended All Tourists Visas Till April 15th Due to Coronavirus

As the problem of Coronavirus is continuing to get chaotic, the government of India has suspended all visas to India as the cases of coronavirus in the country sharply spiked and the World Health Organisation declared it a pandemic. Altogether, 67 people in India are infected, a chunk of them are a group of tourists from Italy. The Union health ministry said all existing visas -- except diplomatic, official, UN/International organisations, employment and project visas -- will be suspended till April 15. "This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on 13th March 2020 at the port of departure," read a communique issued late Wednesday night after a meeting of a Group of Ministers headed by health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. Visa facilities had been partially suspended earlier from the COVID-19 nations, countries where the virus is on a rampage.

The government communique that announced the suspension of visas this evening, also said, "Visa free travel facility granted to OCI card holders is kept in abeyance till April 15th 2020. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on 13th March 2020 at the port of departure."

The World Health Organisation has declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic, meaning a disease that has spread worldwide and affected huge number of people. In a series of tweets, the WHO said it was "deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity (of the virus), and by the alarming levels of inaction."