New Zealand has temporarily suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for about two weeks following a high number of positive coronavirus cases arriving from the South Asian country. The suspension will take effect from April 11 and will be in place till April 28, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a news conference in Wellington.
The move comes after New Zealand recorded 23 new positive coronavirus cases at its border on Thursday, of which 17 were from India. India has recorded 12.8 million COVID-19 cases, the most after the United States and Brazil. The South Pacific nation has virtually eliminated the coronavirus, having not reported any locally transmitted cases for about 40 days. But it’s been reviewing its border settings as more people with infections arrive in New Zealand recently, majority being from India, the news agency reported. The rolling average of positive cases has been steadily rising and hit seven cases on Wednesday, the highest since last October. India is now battling a deadly second wave of infections, with the number of infections in the past 24 hours reaching an all-time high of 126,789 cases on Thursday.
It’s not just New Zealand that has seen a rise in cases because of passengers arriving from India. Several other countries have reported many Covid-19 passengers arriving in flights that originated in India.
