Nagaland bans entry of domestic and foreign tourists to counter Covid-19

The Nagaland government said the step was taken as a “measure of abundant caution, in the interest of public”.

The Nagaland government on Monday ordered an indefinite blanket ban on the entry of both domestic and foreign tourists into the state in a bid to stop spread of coronavirus, becoming the first state in the country to take such a step.

Passengers undergo a thermal screening test in the wake of coronavirus scare at Dimapur airport in Nagaland. (PTI)

Earlier, three other states in the Northeast, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim, had banned entry of foreigners as precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus.

An order issued by Nagaland chief secretary Temjen Toy said that as a “measure of abundant caution, in the interest of public”, the issue of fresh inner line permit (ILP) for domestic and foreign tourists and all other categories will remain suspended with immediate effect till further orders.

The order added that entry of all foreign and domestic tourists to the state will remain barred from March 18 till further orders.

The decision was taken following a high level review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

According to the state’s department of information and public relations, the state government has also ordered closure of all education institutions in the state from March 17 to April 12.

Last week, the Mizoram and Manipur government sealed their borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar as part of measures to combat coronavirus. No positive case of the virus has been reported from any of the eight Northeastern states so far.

India has so far reported 114 positive cases of coronavirus so far, most of them from Maharashtra.