Covid 19 coronavirus: United States to close borders to India citing devastating case numbers

The US will restrict travel from India starting from May 4, the White House says, citing a devastating rise in Covid-19 cases in the country and the emergence of potentially dangerous variants of the coronavirus.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden's administration made the determination on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high Covid-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the India," she said.

With 386,452 new cases, India now has reported more than 18.7 million since the pandemic began, second only to the United States.

The Health Ministry yesterday also reported 3498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. Experts believe both figures are an undercount, but it's unclear by how much.

The US action comes days after Biden spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the growing health crisis in his country and pledged to immediately send assistance.

The US has already moved to send therapeutics, rapid virus test and oxygen to India, along with some materials needed for that country to boost its domestic production of Covid-19 vaccines.

Additionally, a CDC team of public health experts was expected to soon be on the ground in India to help health officials there move to slow the spread of the virus.

The White House waited on the CDC recommendation before moving to restrict travel, noting that the US already requires negative tests and quarantines for all international travelers.

Other restrictions are in place on travel from China, Iran, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Brazil and South Africa, which are or have been hotspots for the coronavirus.

- AP