Hong Kong has suspended all flights connecting it with India from Tuesday to May 3 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, aviation industry sources said on Sunday.
They said the Hong Kong government has also suspended flights to and from Pakistan as well as the Philippines for the aforementioned time period.
The Hong Kong government's decision has come after 50 passengers of two Vistara flights this month were found positive for COVID-19 when tested on arrival.
According to rules, all passengers who want to come to Hong Kong need to have a COVID-negative RTPCR result with them from a test done 72 hours prior to the journey.
Earlier on Sunday, the Hong Kong government announced suspension of all Vistara flights on Mumbai-Hong Kong route till May 2.
This decision was taken as three passengers on Vistara's Mumbai-Hong Kong flight on Sunday tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival.
Till Sunday, total 47 passengers who were on Vistara's Delhi-Hong Kong flight of April 4 have tested positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Vistara's flights on Delhi-Hong Kong route had earlier been banned from April 6 to April 19.
Vistara did not respond to PTI's request for a statement on the matter.
A record single-day rise of 2,61,500 coronavirus infections has taken India's case tally to 1,47,88,109, while active cases have surpassed the 18-lakh mark, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll increased to 1,77,150 with a record 1,501 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Registering a steady increase for the 39th day in a row, the active cases stand at 18,01,316, comprising 12.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 86.62 per cent, the ministry said.
These fresh fatalities also include 37 each from Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, 34 each from Bihar and West Bengal, 32 from Haryana, 30 from Jharkhand, 27 from Kerala, 15 each from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and 12 from Himachal Pradesh. The ministry said a total of 1,77,150 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 59,970 from Maharashtra, 13,270 from Karnataka, 13,071 from Tamil Nadu, 11,960 from Delhi, 10,540 from West Bengal, 9,703 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,834 from Punjab and 7,388 from Andhra Pradesh.