India’s most visited attraction Taj Mahal closed to visitors on Tuesday as a step to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Footage shows empty streets and few visitors around India’s iconic Agra site as police observed the shutdown.
Dozens of other protected monuments and museums across the country, including the Ajanta and Ellora caves, as well as religious sites such as the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai, were ordered to close. Most schools and entertainment facilities remain shuttered.
In a greater effort to curtail the illness, India has suspended the issuance of new tourist visas and banned all travellers wishing to come from the European Union, the UK, and Turkey – a ban which applies to Indian nationals arriving from those locations.
The city of Mumbai, with a densely-packed 18 million inhabitants, authorised hospital and airport authorities to stamp the wrists of those who have been ordered to self-isolate with the words, “Home Quarantined.”
India has registered 152 cases of COVID-19, well below that of its neighbours and European counterparts.
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