India-UK flights to remain suspended till January 7

New Delhi : Amid new strain of coronavirus concern, passenger flights will remain suspended for another week till January 7, 2021. The restrictions will be lifted in a "strictly regulated" manner, said Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

The Civil Aviation Ministry had suspended flights to European countries on December 23 as the reports of new version of coronavirus surfaced in.

The announcement to suspend flights further comes on a recommendation by the Union Health Ministry. 

Puri said on Twitter: "Decision has been taken to extend the temporary suspension of flights to & from the UK till 7 January 2021."

"Thereafter strictly regulated resumption will take place for which details will be announced shortly," he said.

Meanwhile, India has detected 20 new cases of coronavirus with new mutant detected in them. The tally includes six people who were found positive for the new virus strain on Tuesday.

The presence of the new UK variant of the virus has already been reported by Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.