Buenos Aires, Feb 2 : Argentina has decided to keep its borders closed to non-resident foreigners until February 28, in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, its was announced in a government gazette. The gazette released on Monday carried the signatures of Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Santiago Cafiero and the Ministers of the Interior and Health, Eduardo de Pedro and Gines Gonzalez Garcia, respectively, Xinhua news agency. The decision to extend the ban follows "a new report (from the Health Ministry) that recommends the maintenance and adoption of new preventive measures to protect public health", state news agency Telam said. As a result, direct flights to and from the UK remain suspended, given the new Covid-19 variant detected there. The National Directorate for Migration (DNM) will help determine what steps nationals, foreign residents and non-resident foreigners who are direct relatives of Argentine citizens or residents, need to take to enter the country. According to the gazette, the DNM and the Health Ministry "will determine the flight schedules and the number of passengers who will gradually and daily enter the country, especially via flights from the US, Mexico, Europe and Brazil, keeping the frequency of passenger flights to the first three destinations reduced by 30 per cent and to Brazil by 50 per cent". The decision recommends nationals and foreign residents, especially those over 60 years of age or belonging to high-risk groups, "defer their trips abroad", unless essential. Argentina had registered its first Covid-19 case on March 3, 2020. As of Tuesday, the country's overall caseload and death toll stood at 1,933,853 and 48,249, respectively. /IANS