Coronavirus pandemic: All schools closed, visitors from EU, UK, Turkey barred from entering India

New Delhi, Mar 16: Moving swiftly to tackle coronavirus, India has barred airlines from bringing passengers from European Union, United Kingdom and Turkey.

The Ministry also expanded compulsory quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days for passengers coming from transiting through UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.

"Social distancing measures have been proposed till March 31. The closure of all schools museums, swimming pools and online education are to be promoted and travel to be discouraged," Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry told media.

"No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on 18th March 2020. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure," Ministry of Health said.

"This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on 18th March 2020 at the port of the first departure," it said.

The Ministry has said that these instructions are temporary and will be in force till March 31, and subsequently will be reviewed.

The Union health ministry also said four new coronavirus cases -- one each from Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala, have been reported, taking the total number of cases to 114 on Monday.

These cases include 10 discharged, three cured and two deaths. The 'contact tracing activity' of these positive cases has led to identification of more than 5,200 contacts, who are kept under rigorous surveillance