In view of a new strain of the novel coronavirus spreading fast in the UK, the Indian government on Monday took a decision to ban all flights from that country temporarily.

"Flights originating from the UK to India shall be temporarily suspended till 31 December 2020," the government said in a statement. The suspension will come into effect from tomorrow midnight.

All passengers arriving from the UK till Tuesday will have to mandatorily undergo RT-PCR testing. The passengers who test positive will be quarantined. These moves were overdue. The government should have suspended flights Sunday itself after urgently reviewing the situation.

Before India, Canada, Turkey, Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Israel, Germany and South Africa suspended flights from the UK. Meanwhile, many feel that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to India as a Republic Day guest must be cancelled in view of the situation.