On Wednesday, 2nd December 2021, India recorded its first two cases of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, but it is still not in favour of banning international flights as a response and measure to counter its spread. The two cases of patients with the new variant were found in Bangalore.

In Mumbai too, 9 patients have been identified who have travelled from countries affected by the new variant and have returned to the country between 10th November to 2nd December, although it is not clear whether they themselves have been infected with this new variant. The BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) has said that their samples have been sent for genome sequencing.

Until the time of reporting, India has not enforced any travel ban or advisory for South Africa. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “I won’t like to speculate how the world looks at it; I certainly think there are many countries where similar cases have been found, we have not imposed any travel restrictions.”

He said further: “We have instead intensified surveillance mechanism and protocol for those who happen to come from at risk countries, who have to undertake at arrival RT-PCR test, etc. and undergo home quarantine. I would refer to health ministry guidelines… This is not flight curbs”.

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