Government issues ban on travel to India

The government has issued a ban on travel to India in connection with the new highly contagious mutation of Covid-19 currently ravaging the country. Czech nationals and foreign nationals permanently residing in the Czech Republic will be allowed to return on condition they undergo a PCR test before leaving India and another within 24 hours after entering the Czech Republic. They will have to quarantine for a fortnight after entering the country and take another PCR test at the end of the period of self-isolation.

The National Reference Laboratory is currently sequencing what may be the first samples of the more contagious Indian mutation of the coronavirus detected on Czech soil. The samples were taken from two Indian students in Hradec Králové, one of whom recently returned from a visit home. The definitive results should be known on Tuesday. Several people have been placed in quarantine.