Rome:
Italy extended Sunday an entry ban for persons coming from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as a continued precaution against the more transmissible India-dominant variant of the novel coronavirus.
The ban, which does not apply to Italian citizens, was introduced in late April and was due to expire on Sunday. It was prolonged till June 21, a spokesman for Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza mentioned in a statement.
The B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus was initially detected in India last year and has been blamed for a great deal of a devastating COVID-19 wave that has battered South Asian nations in current weeks.
This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned the variant has officially spread to 53 territories, and has been linked to seven other territories by unofficial sources, taking the total to 60.
In an interview with AFP, WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge mentioned the improved contagiousness of the new variants of the coronavirus, like the one located in India, was one of his primary worries.
“We know for example that the B.1617 (India-dominant variant) is more transmissible than the B.117 (British variant), which already was more transmissible than the previous strain,” the Belgian physician mentioned.