- India suspended e-visa for Chinese nationals but many others like US, Russia and Bangladesh too have become wary of travellers.
- Philippines is the first country to report a Coronavirus death outside mainland China.
- Italy allies with other Schengen states over visa processing for Chinese residents.
The virus has claimed the lives of 362 people in China and 17,482 cases are reported in the mainland.
Here is the list of countries that banned or revoked Chinese entry.
India suspends e-visa for Chinese nationals
India temporarily suspended e-visa facilities for
“This applies to holders of Chinese passports and applicants of other nationalities residing in the People’s Republic of China. Holders of already issued e-visas may note that these are no longer valid,” the release said.
Philippines ban travellers from China
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte too banned travellers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau on Sunday.
The Philippines government said that this entry restriction would apply to foreigners only. Filipino citizens and permanent residents would be allowed in but quarantined for 14 days after arrival. There is also a temporary travel ban on Filipinos visiting China and Hong Kong as well. The Philippines is the first country to report death due to coronavirus outside mainland China.
Russia halts visa-free entry
The Russian government on Saturday halted visa-free entry for Chinese nationals and stopped issuing work visas.
The government, on its website, issued a notice saying, “This is to ensure the safety of the country, protect public health and prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.” The country also reported its the first case of coronavirus on Sunday and halted all the flights to China.
Bangladesh revokes visa-on-arrival
Bangladesh also suspended visa-on-arrival facilities for Chinese nationals amid the global emergency over the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The foreign minister AK Abdul Momen announced at a media briefing on Sunday, “We are requesting Chinese nationals in Bangladesh not to go on leave especially over the next month while the global emergency is in place.”
Bangladesh has not reported any cases of coronavirus so far.
United States imposes a 14-day travel ban
The US imposed a 14-day travel ban on all visitors from China or visitors transiting China, regardless of their passport.
The government also said the US nationals arriving from Hube province would have to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine on arrival. Those travelling to any other part of China will face screening and monitoring at the airport.
The US receives a large number of Chinese nationals visiting each year. According to data from the National Travel and Tourism Office, 2.9 million Chinese travellers visited the United States in 2018.
The Schengen States including Italy, Greece and Czech stopped processing visas
Italy becomes the third country in the Schengen States that stopped processing applications in China, amid the outbreak. The Czech Republic and Greece were the first countries part of the EU and the Schengen Area to undertake this measure.
A report of SchengenVisaInfo.com says that EU countries would follow. The Italian government made the decision public through the Italian Embassy in Beijing on their website. Chinese are the second-highest applicants for Schengen visa in the world. Over 2 million visas were issued in 2017.
Australia closes borders for Chinese arrivals
The Australian government announced that they would deny entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been in China, where the virus first emerged in December. Australia said any of its own citizens arriving from China too would be quarantined for two weeks.
Its first case was reported on 25 January, and now 12 people in Australia have been infected.
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