Coronavirus: Preparations for evacuating Indians stranded in Hubei has begun, says MEA

With numerous Indians stranded in China in the wake of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak, the Centre has decided to take steps for their evacuation. Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar reassured the citizens of India that the process of evacuation of Indian nationals from Hubei Province in China has begun and that the Embassy of India in China is in close communication with the Chinese government and its officials to work out the logistics and provide speedy relief to the Indian nationals.

He took to Twitter and announced the same: 

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He also added that the Embassy of India along with the chinese government is working on the logistics and promised to continue sharing further updates.

Precautionary measures taken 

As per the statement of the Health Ministry, while travel advisories have been sent to adjoining countries including China to spread information about the disease globally, seven airports in India have been on the lookout for passengers with Coronavirus. On the directions of the Health Ministry, thermal health screening of passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong is also being conducted in seven airports namely Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Cochin and Delhi. In the latest development, Air India has reportedly kept a 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for evacuating Indians from Wuhan city in China, which is the epicentre of Coronavirus. As per reports, while 250 Indians have already been evacuated, the airline is awaiting approvals from the Ministry of External Affairs to dispatch Boeing 747-400 from Mumbai and speed up the process of evacuation.

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What is Coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a kind of virus that causes an infection in the nose, sinuses, or upper throat. In January 2020, the World Health Organization identified a new type: 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China. By late January, there were around 2,800 confirmed cases in China. While Wuhan along with 12 other cities was completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading, the death toll has risen to a 106 and the confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the outbreak now stand at 4,515.

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(Picture credit: AP, PTI)