China temporarily suspends visas for foreigners

China has temporarily suspended visas for foreigners and restricted flights to prevent the incoming cases of COVID-19 in the country as it reported one domestically transmitted COVID-19 case in Zhejiang Province alongwith with 54 new imported infections yesterday. 

As the imported cases increased, China has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreign nationals holding visas or residence permits, effective from midnight of 28th of March. A statement jointly released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the National Immigration Administration said this.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a circular that All domestic airlines were allowed to operate only one flight to each country per



week, while foreign aviation companies should keep only one air route to China and there should be no more than one flight every week for each of the air route to China. It will be effective from 29th of March. Stricter measures will also be taken to curb the spread of the virus on flights arriving or leaving the country and ensure that passenger load factor is lower than 75 per cent, the CAAC said, adding that it might further slash international flights if necessary.

The virus that first emerged in China's Wuhan city in the Hubei province in December last year has spread to 175 countries, infected 5,31,860 people and has claimed 24,057 lives globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Corona virus tracker.