Avoid unnecessary travel to India: Oman Embassy

Muscat: The Sultanate's embassy in New Delhi has advised avoiding traveling to the Republic of India in the current period, except if it is an absolute necessity, due to the steady increase in the number of cases of Covid 19, which exceeded 200,000 per day. 'Travellers must follow measures taken by the Indian government, including restrictions on movement and closure of some activities,' the embassy said. India's per-capita rates remain low by international comparison, raising the prospect that infection numbers - fuelled possibly by a virulent new double mutant - may explode further. After a national lockdown a year ago led to hundreds of deaths and one of the worst slumps of any major economy, the Indian government is desperate to avoid a second stoppage. Many states are however clamping down, including hotspot Maharashtra, industry-heavy Gujarat, and IT hub Bangalore's home state Karnataka, although restrictions are less onerous than last year. Uttar Pradesh state, home to some 240 million people, on Friday announced that all villages and cities would be under lockdown for one day on Sunday. In the capital New Delhi, which has overtaken Mumbai as the worst-hit Indian city, restaurants, malls, gyms, and spas were shut for the weekend. Weddings though can go ahead with guests limited to 50, while a maximum of 20 people can attend funerals. Movie theatres can open with one-third capacity. 'Don't panic. All essential services will be available through the weekend,' the city of 25 million people's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said. Hospitals are running short of oxygen and coronavirus medicines such as Remdesivir, prompting desperate people to pay exorbitant rates on the black market. Social media is full of horror stories of desperate calls to help a loved one needing hospital treatment for Covid-19 or other complaints. AFP