Bhutan evacuates 134 students from Lovely Professional University amid Covid outbreak

The Bhutanese Government evacuated as many as 134 Bhutanese students across universities in Chandigarh and Punjab in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. India is under a 21-day lockdown till April 14 with most states extending their lockdown period amid soaring cases. The Bhutanese students who were stranded in the hostels of Lovely Professional University near Jalandhar were airlifted by a special flight arranged by the Bhutanese government. This news was confirmed by KBS Sidhu, the Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government. 

Read: Bhutan Increases Quarantine Period To 21 Days Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Read: PM Modi Appreciates Bhutan PM For Contributing $100,000 To The COVID-19 Emergency Fund

Last week, Bhutan had thanked India for facilitating the evacuation of Bhutanese nationals stranded in India due to coronavirus lockdown. Bhutan has been evacuating its nationals from India over the past few weeks. As many as 140 Bhutanese nationals comprising mostly students were flown back to their country back in March. The Himalayan country has also sealed its border with India last month to arrest the spread of coronavirus. 

Coronavirus in Bhutan

The country so far has reported only four positive cases of the Coronavirus as per the reports of Johns Hopkins University, however, it had decided to extend its quarantine period for 21 days, with effect from March 31. The first case of the virus came into limelight on March 5 where the patient was a 76-year old tourist from the United States and had visited Assam before arriving in Bhutan. 

Bhutan last month had decided to contribute $100,000 to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund which PM Modi had proposed to set up in his meeting with the SAARC nations. 

(With Agency Inputs)

Read: Lockdown: 140 Bhutanese Flown Back Home In Special Flight From Chandigarh

Read: India's Covid Cases Rise To 9152 & Death Toll To 308 As Testing Increases To 1.95 Lakhs