India bans incoming flights to control coronavirus, seals off Kashmir

NEW DELHI: India has banned incoming international flights, restricted public gatherings and blocked roads to seal held Kashmir after the region reported its first coronavirus infection.

India said it would ban all international commercial passenger flights from landing from Sunday for a week. The country has already suspended visas for the vast majority of foreigners seeking to enter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation and made a fervent appeal to all Indians to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid getting infected by coronavirus, saying the world has never seen a danger as grave as this.

“The whole world is going through a very serious phase. Generally, whenever a natural crisis occurs, it is limited to a few countries or states. But the coronavirus outbreak has put the entire human race in crisis,” Modi said.

He called for ‘Janta curfew’ on March 22 between 7 am and 9 pm, saying no one except those in essential services, should get out of house. He also urged to avoid stepping out unless necessary, promising that there would not be a shortage of essential supplies.

“Even World War I and II did not affect as many countries as coronavirus has done,” Modi said, asking people to sacrifice “some weeks of yours, some time of yours” given that coronavirus has no cure yet, the only way to stay safe is to stay indoors.

“I request all people in country to get out of house only when it is extremely necessary, try and do all work from home,” he said. He also wanted the nation to applaud the selfless work of essential services personnel.

In Indian-held Kashmir, dozens of people have been prevented from leaving their neighborhoods by police and paramilitary units. Kashmir has been relatively unaffected by the virus, reporting its first case on Wednesday.

In India, several areas introduced curbs on gatherings as coronavirus cases rose to 166. Late on Wednesday, the state od Rajasthan invoked colonial-era laws that prevent the unlawful assembly of four or more people.

Similar restrictions were introduced in Noida, a satellite city of New Delhi. The financial hub of Mumbai expanded its partial shutdown of offices to government buildings on Thursday, with at least half the staff ordered to work from home.