Travelers walk through Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in London, UK, February 14, 2021. REUTERS / Henry Nicholls // Photo File
UK’s Heathrow Airport has refused to allow additional flights from India before adding the country to Britain’s “red list” of locations where most travel has been banned on Friday due to a high number of COVID-19 cases, the airport said on Wednesday.
Britain’s move comes after it discovered more than 100 cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India, Health Minister Matt Hancock said Monday. read more
“We have made the difficult but crucial decision to add India to the Red List. This means that anyone who is not a UK or Irish resident or a UK citizen cannot enter the UK if they are in India in the last 10 days , ”Hancock had told Parliament.
Heathrow Airport’s refusal to allow additional flights from India was previously reported by the BBC, with the airport adding that it turned down airlines’ requests over concerns about queues at passport control.
The airport also told Reuters it did not want to increase the existing pressure at the border by allowing more passengers to fly in.
India is now facing a coronavirus “storm” that is overwhelming its health system, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a national speech on Tuesday, with the world’s second-most populous country reporting 295,041 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday – the largest daily increase reported in every country – its hospitals to breaking point. read more
India’s 2023 one-day deaths were also the highest during the pandemic.
At least 24 COVID-19 patients in Western India died on Wednesday when oxygen to their fans ran out amid a nationwide gas shortage and a wave of infections.
Health experts said India had dropped its guard when the virus seemed to be under control in the winter, allowing for large gatherings such as weddings and festivals.
Modi himself has been criticized for tackling tuned-in political rallies for local elections and running a religious festival where millions gathered.
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