Coronavirus spread: India bars entry to foreigners who visited China after Jan 15

Foreigners who have travelled to China on January 15 and after will be barred from entering India by land, air and sea routes in a bid to control the spread of coronavirus.

The bar is also applicable to any foreigner entering through the Indo-Nepal, India-Bhutan, India-Bangladesh or India-Myanmar land borders, our New Delhi correspondent reports quoting a notification issued last night by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

All visas issued to Chinese nationals before February 5 have been suspended, the DGCA said in its circular.

However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified, "These visa restrictions will not apply to aircrew, who may be Chinese nationals or other foreign nationals coming from China."

Among Indian airlines, IndiGo and Air India have suspended all their flights with China but SpiceJet continues to fly on the Delhi-Hong Kong route.

On February 1 and 2, Air India evacuated 647 Indians and seven Maldivians from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.