Czech Republic bans travel to India due to spread of new coronavirus mutation

The Czech Republic has banned all travels to India as of Tuesday, adding India to the list of states posing an extreme risk of the spread of new coronavirus mutations, Health Minister Petr Arenberger told the media after Monday's meeting of the cabinet, the lower house of Czech parliament.

Conditions for arrivals from India will also be tightened.

In addition to India, a number of other countries are currently classed "extreme risk." Those include: Peru, Colombia, Botswana, Brazil, Eswatini, South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Only Czechs and those residing in the Czech Republic will be able to travel from India to the Czech Republic. Before leaving India, arrivals must undergo a PCR test and will need to repeat it in 24 hours upon returning to the Czech Republic. People returning form the India are also required to undergo a third PCR test between the tenth and the fourteenth day after arrival. For the entire period of time they must also stay in quarantine.

Cases of suspected Indian mutation were reported to the public health office in the east Bohemian office Hradec Kralove on Friday, April 16, the office spokeswoman Veronika Krejci said. The mutation was probably brought in by a female student from India, health minister Arenberger told Czech daily Pravo.

Arenberger said today the sequencing process, which would definitively ascertain the presence of the mutation, is still underway and the result is expected later this week.

For six consecutive days, India has reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus infections per day. In the last 24 hours, the country has recorded 323,144 proven cases of the disease, Reuters reported Tuesday. Indian hospitals continue to face an onslaught of Covid-19 patients and are turning people away because they have run out of oxygen and hospital beds.