Bollywood's favourite holiday destination, Maldives, has suspended Indian tourists from staying at tourist facilities in inhabited islands, owing to the meteoric rise of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Maldives' travel suspension on tourists from India comes after similar restrictions were posed by Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Pakistan, France, Oman and Kuwait on travel from India.
Meanwhile, the US advised its citizens to avoid travelling to India, even if they are fully vaccinated as there is a 'very high level' of COVID-19 in the country.
The Ministry of Tourism said, "With effect from 27 April @HPA_mv suspends tourists travelling from #India to #Maldives from staying at tourist facilities in inhabited islands. We thank you for the support in our endeavour to make tourism safest possible with minimum inconvenience."
Since the pandemic began, Maldives had been a favourite destination for many of B-Town's young faces, with Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor being its most recent visitors. The couple returned just a day ago and was ridiculed online for taking the trip shortly after recovering from coronavirus.
With 3,52,991 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, the highest so far, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases has climbed to 1,73,13,163 while active cases have crossed the 28-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
With an increasing number of virus cases and a frightening shortage of oxygen in multiple states including the national capital, the situation in India has been worsening with each passing day.