Italy extended on Sunday an entry ban for people coming from Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh, as a continued precaution against the more transmissible B.1.617 variant of the novel coronavirus. The ban, which does not apply to Italian citizens, was introduced in late April and was due to expire on Sunday. It was prolonged until June 21, a spokesman for Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement. The B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus was first detected in India last year and has been blamed for much of a devastating Covid-19 wave that has battered South Asian nations in recent weeks. “We know for example that the B.1617 variant is more transmissible than the B.117 (British variant), which already was more transmissible than the previous strain,” the Belgian doctor said.
