India on December 21 banned flights from the UK till December 31 over a new fast-spreading strain of the coronavirus in that country. Ban starts from 11:59 pm on December 22 & all passengers arriving from the UK before then will be tested on arrival at airports. Passengers on flights from Britain arriving before midnight on December 22 will be subjected to RT-PCR tests at the airport. Those who test positive will be sent to institutional quarantine while the rest will be asked to home-isolate for seven days. Canada, Saudi Arabia & several European countries have suspended flights from the UK over the new strain, believed to be 70 per cent more infectious. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government was fully alert about the new strain and stressed "there's no need to panic".
Meanwhile, Maharashtra imposed an 11 pm to 6 am night curfew from December 22 till January 5 in Mumbai & other cities. Passengers from European or Middle East nations will be sent to 14-day institutional quarantine, and all others must home-isolate for a similar period, the state government said on December 21. India's coronavirus cases passed the 1-crore mark on December 19. Worldwide, over 7.68 crore cases have been reported so far; 16.9 lakh people have died. Watch the video to know more.