India-UK flights to remain suspended till Jan 7

New Delhi, December 30: Passenger flights between the UK and India would remain suspended till January 7 and they will resume in a “strictly regulated” manner thereafter, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. The Civil Aviation Ministry had last week suspended all flights between the European country and India from December 23 to December 31 as a mutated variant of the corona virus was detected there. Puri’s announcement has come following a recommendation by the Union Health Ministry to extend the suspension of India-UK flights till January 7. Earlier during the day, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a communique to Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola that it is recommending extending temporary suspension of India-UK flights till January 7 “based on the inputs received from the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) headed by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) and the National Task Force jointly headed by DG, ICMR and member (Health) NITI Aayog”. Bhushan also suggested that after January 7, 2021, strictly regulated resumption of limited number of India-UK flights may be considered and the specifics of such a mechanism may be worked out by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in consultation with the Ministry of Health. Twenty people in India have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The tally includes six people who were found positive for the new virus strain on Tuesday.

By : R News India 24