The Indian authorities have reportedly closed their borders to Bangladeshi students amid a surge in cases of the omicron coronavirus in parts of the world.
“Petrapole Immigration Authority asked us verbally not to send someone on a student visa in a bid to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant omicron,” said Mohammad Raju, officer-in-charge of Benapole International Check-post Immigration, reports bdnews24.com.
Indian officials said they would reconsider the cases of Bangladeshi students who have exams in Indian institutions, but the students must show exam-related papers, Raju said on Tuesday.
Bangladesh has not imposed a ban on the entry of Indians studying in Bangladeshi institutions, he added.
Many countries have imposed travel curbs while some have closed borders altogether after the omicron variant was detected in South Africa.
Scientists say the new variant is more infectious than the delta strain that wreaked havoc on many countries in the outgoing year of 2021.
Although the data is not enough yet to measure the severity of infections with omicron, researchers have warned governments and people against taking it lightly.
