As the coronavirus fear intensifies, the government of India has temporarily suspended the e-visa facility for Chinese passports holders and applicants of other nationalities residing in China.
E-visas that have already been issued to Chinese nationals are not valid for now. Additionally, the facility for submitting the application online for physical visa from the east Asian country has been discontinued currently.
However, the Indian embassy in Beijing has said in an official statement that “all those who have a compelling reason to visit India may contact the Embassy of India in Beijing or the Indian consulates in Shanghai or Guangzhou, as well as the Indian visa application centres in these cities.”
So far, India has registered three positive cases of coronavirus in Kerala. As a result, the south Indian state has declared the outbreak as a ‘state calamity’.
The situation is being closely reviewed by state authorities across the nation and therefore thermal screenings, information desks, self-declaration signage and helplines have been set up at Indian airports. Anyone with a travel history since January 15, 2020 and from now on is expected to be quarantined.
Meanwhile, the 650 Indians who were airlifted from Wuhan by Air India, over a span of two days, have been quarantined in two facilities — Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) in Manesar and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp in Delhi.
