31 Dec
The Ministry of Transport and Communications modified its order yesterday to extend the suspension of international flights till Jan 31, 2021.
The ban does not affect relief flights, all-cargo flights, medical evacuation flights and special flights approved by the ministry.
The extension comes in the wake of the discovery of cases of a mutated Covid-19 strain in the United Kingdom and in some other countries including some parts of Asia.
The suspension comes in the wake of the discovery of cases of a new infectious strain of SARS-Cov-2 first detected in the United Kingdom.
This decision reflects that keeping the public safe remains the top priority of the Union Government.
The daily count of coronavirus infection has been spirally downward from over 2000 last month to around 600 these days. But, we need to continue to make efforts to stop the spread of the infection in our country.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the ministries concerned are also working together on resumption of international commercial passenger flights in line with the health guidelines depending on the progress of the containment on coronavirus infection in our country to ensure that our country’s economy recovers quickly.
The coronavirus, like all viruses, mutates over time, but there is no evidence that any of the mutations pose an increased danger to people.
The World Health Organization has said it is too early to jump to conclusions.
The mutated coronavirus strain has raised alarms that this could further accelerate the spread of the virus and cast a shadow over our economic recovery efforts.
Our country shares land borders with India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand, and we have also closed land borders to foreign tourists, while suspending all visa-free privileges and visa issuances as part of efforts for fighting the pandemic.
We will continue our efforts that have been effective in preventing infections and reducing the impact of the virus at every opportunity.
Each citizen is also responsible to cooperate with the authorities and take appropriate measures, as their contribution is playing an important role in minimizing the risks to our health, as well as the socio-economic impact of the pandemic during this time of crisis.
