Taking note of the quickly rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the US government has advised its citizens “not to travel to India or to leave as soon as it is safe to do so.”
"Access to all types of medical care is becoming severely limited in India due to the surge in COVID-19 cases. U.S. citizens who wish to depart India should take advantage of available commercial transportation options now," the health alert issued by the US State Department.
The US state department went on to tweet that US citizens who wished to depart India, should take advantage of available transportation options now. “Daily direct flights to the US and flights via Paris and Frankfurt are available.”
The alert is the second advisory from the US on India in less than a week. On April 23, the US Department of State had issued a Level 4 travel advisory against all travel to India, while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice.
The latest alert says that new cases and deaths from COVID-19 have risen sharply throughout India to record levels and the subsequent toll on the health infrastructure has become too great for it to cope with.
India saw a record single day rise of 3,79,257 new coronavirus infections pushing the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 1,83,76,524 as of yesterday. Meanwhile in Kerala, the Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMO), an organisation of government doctors, in a letter to the Chief Secretary, said that the situation in the State is extremely serious and that a two-week lockdown should be imposed. According to the KGMO, the rise in number of patients is a danger sign. The KGMO also warned that there were chances for new variants of the virus to spread. In Kozhikode, the Indian Medical Association has requested a self-declared lockdown as there has been a sharp hike in the number of cases in the district.
