Italy Extends Entry Ban for India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Due to B.1.617 Covid-19 Variant

Italy prolonged Sunday an entry ban for folks coming from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as a continued precaution in opposition to the extra transmissible variant of the novel coronavirus, first detected in India.

The ban, which doesn’t apply to Italian residents, was launched in late April and was due to expire on Sunday. It was extended till June 21, a spokesman for Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza stated in an announcement.

The B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus was first detected in India final 12 months and has been blamed for a lot of a devastating Covid-19 wave that has battered South Asian nations in current weeks.

This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated the variant has formally unfold to 53 territories, and has been linked to seven different territories by unofficial sources, taking the whole to 60.

In an interview with AFP, WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge stated the elevated contagiousness of the brand new variants of the coronavirus, together with the Indian one, was one in all his principal worries.

“We know for instance that the B.1617 (Indian variant) is extra transmissible than the B.117 (British variant), which already was extra transmissible than the earlier pressure,” the Belgian physician stated.