India urges citizens to 'refrain from travelling to China' amid coronavirus outbreak

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a travel advisory for Indian citizens on Wednesday. This comes amid a constant escalation in spread of vel coronavirus which has killed nearly 132 people and infected nearly 6,000 across China. 

Helpline number

ministry led by Harsh Vardhan had issued advisory keeping in view recent gush of cases being reported from across globe as well as all travel-related cases that have emerged. advisory urged citizens to refrain from travelling to China and asked all travellers from China to monitor ir health closely. Adding to that, it provided a helpline number for any queries related to coronavirus. 

Read: Indian Embassy Issues Advisory To Chinese Travellers As Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 25

Read: India To Evacuate Its Nationals From Wuhan, Makes Formal Request To China For Facilitation: Govt

On Tuesday, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed preparedness to deal with deadly virus after which government said India has made a formal request to China for facilitating evacuation of Indians from Wuhan.  Civil Aviation Ministry will make necessary arrangements for evacuation after approval of Chinese authorities is received, a release from Union Health Ministry said.

Asserting that re was confirmed case of vel Coronavirus (nCoV), Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said India was making all efforts to detect and check spread of virus.

As part of preparedness, India has also increased number of airports from seven to 20 to do a rmal screening of passengers for possible exposure to deadly nCoV, and made four more laboratories functional or than NIV-Pune for testing samples. As deadly virus continues to spread in various provinces in China, Indian students, hailing from various states including Gujarat, have expressed ir desire to return.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: China, US Use Robots To Prevent Spread Of SARS-like Virus

Read: J&K Government Orders Corona Virus Screening At Airports

(with inputs from ncies)