New Delhi, March 5: The Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Government of India issued a fresh advisory to combat coronavirus on Thursday. The latest advisory supersedes all previous advisories, the Health Ministry noted its statement. As per the precautionary measures, the Centre has barred Indians from travelling to China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea -- the countries worst affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Coronavirus Age-Wise Mortality Rate: Why Patients Below 40 Years of Age Should Worry Less About COVID-19 Outbreak.

Passengers arriving from the above-mentioned countries will have to produce a certificate from an authorised lab stating that they are COVID-19 negative. Only after producing the certificate, they would be allowed to visit India, the advisory states. Travellers arriving from all other countries would not be asked to provide a certificate, but will have to undergo thermal screenings at the airport.

Read Full Revised Advisory Issued by the Health Ministry

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, while issuing a statement in the Parliament today, confirmed the detection of 30 positive cases so far. The Minister reiterated that there is no "need to panic" and the government is constantly monitoring the situation.

"Till 4th March, there have been 29 positive cases of Coronavirus in India. I am daily reviewing the situation. A Group of Ministers is also monitoring the situation," Vardhan said, adding that the Centre has been on alert since the initial days of the virus outbreak.

"Since January 17, an action has been taken in this regard and we started preparing ourselves to deal with for such scenario. It was even before the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO)," he added.

Harsh Vardhan's remarks drew criticism from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Marking his dissent on the alleged lack of preparation to combat coronavirus, Gandhi said, "The Health Minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 05, 2020 04:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).