Northeast States Shut Border With Myanmar, Ban Foreigners Over Virus

The Manipur government has closed all border entry points with Myanmar to prevent the spread of the highly contagious Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19. Entry of foreigners from these border checkpoints is banned.

An order issued by the state home department on Monday said the government has banned movement of people across the international border and shut all the gates along the Indo-Myanmar border at Moreh indefinitely.

As a precautionary measures of transmission of Coronavirus /COVID-19, the international border with Myanmar has been closed including gate no 1 and 2 in Moreh until further orders. pic.twitter.com/AJ2QTudf7l

— N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 10, 2020

The Mizoram government has also said the border with Myanmar and Bangladesh will be sealed and entry of foreigners will be banned to prevent the coronavirus from spreading.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has temporarily stopped issuing Protected Area Permits (PAPs) to foreigners to check the spread of coronavirus, officials said on Sunday.

Foreigners need PAPs to enter the state that shares a border with China. Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar directed all PAP-issuing authorities to stop giving the permits till further orders, the officials said.

The move comes days after Sikkim announced similar curbs on visit of foreigners.

At least 400 people in Assam have been quarantined after they came in contact with an American tourist who tested positive for the new coronavirus, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The American, who tested positive in Bhutan, had travelled through Assam recently, the minister said.

Bhutan has also shut its borders to foreign visitors for two weeks in an effort to limit the impact of the disease.

The virus that first emerged in China in December last year has spread to several countries and has infected over one lakh people, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus tracker. More than 3,500 people have died.