Coronavirus outbreak: Special Air India flight with 211 students takes off from Milan

In the wake of Coronavirus concerns, a special Air India flight carrying 211 Indian students who were stranded in Italy, departed for India on Saturday. As per reports, the flight also had seven compassionate cases. As per reports, Italy has reported 175 deaths from Coronavirus on Saturday. 

Taking to Twitter, the Indian Consulate in Milan posted pictures of the people in the flight and thanked the Air India's team and the Italian authorities for the cooperation. Earlier, Air India had announced the cancellation of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30.

India started evacuating people after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a Pandemic. The Indian authorities have been carrying out evacuations from several countries including China, Japan and Iran as the number of cases of oronavirus continue to rise in these countries.

Coronavirus in India

As of date, the total number of positive cases in India has soared up to around 84 as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Along with it, two deaths have been reported in Kalaburagi and West Delhi respectively. India has suspended all visas, barring for a few categories such as diplomatic and employment apart from keeping in abeyance the visa-free travel facility to OCI cardholders till April 15.

Read: Coronavirus outbreak: China reports 11 new infections, including 7 'imported' cases

Moreover, the Centre has “strongly advised” Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. The government is also monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories. 

Read: Coronavirus scare: General public not to be allowed in parliament complex as precautionary measure

The Coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel Coronavirus has affected nearly 135 countries in the world. Presently, there are over 142,649 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 5,393 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

Read: Coronavirus scare: 230 passengers from Delhi screened at Arunachals Naharlagun station

Read: Punjab govt taking all steps to prevent Coronavirus spread, no need to panic: Amarinder