LA PAZ, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia will extend a ban on flights from Europe until mid-February as a preventive measure against the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus disease, President Luis Arce announced on Wednesday.
"To protect the health of the Bolivian population ... we are extending the suspension of entry of flights from Europe to Bolivia until Feb. 15, 2021," the president tweeted.
Over 40 countries have temporarily banned flights from the UK after the emergence of a new strain of the coronavirus that is more contagious.
However, the government has authorized state-owned airline Boliviana de Aviacion to repatriate Bolivians stranded in Spain.
Almost 10 months after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in Bolivia, the country has registered 165,268 cases of infection and 9,241 deaths from the disease, for a mortality rate of 5.6 percent, according to the Ministry of Health. Enditem
