India's C-17 to fly to Coronavirus-struck Iran to rescue stranded students & pilgrims

Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, the Government of India will send the C-17 Globemaster military aircraft to rescue stranded citizens from Iran. Earlier the government had also sent the military aircraft to China to evacuate the stranded citizens in Wuhan, from where the virus is said to have originated. The aircraft is set to leave for Tehran at around 8 pm and will reach out to the Indian Embassy there to bring back the stranded citizens. The government has also directed paramilitary forces to set up quarantine facilities for the students and pilgrims who will be brought back from Iran. 

READ | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal On Coronavirus: 'We Are Creating Awareness On A Big Scale'

India's Coronavirus count rises 

On Monday, the government revealed that positive cases of the novel Coronavirus in India had soared to 43 after new cases were reported from across India including a three-year-old child. Four new cases emerged from Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu, which reported one positive case each raising the number to 43. Apart from this, 15 people are under observation for the virus in Maharashtra, however, no positive cases have been detected yet. 

READ | Union Health Minister, Delhi CM Kejriwal & L-G Baijal Huddle Up To Counter Coronavirus

The 43 that have been tested for the novel Coronavirus have been found positive from the 3,003 samples that were tested in the country. Out of these, 40 are active cases, the initial three which were reported from Kerala have been treated and discharged. The health ministry has advised people against mass gatherings to avoid the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

READ | C-17 Aircraft To Evacuate More Indians From Wuhan, Carry Medical Supplies

Coronavirus outbreak

According to the latest reports, Coronavirus has claimed more than 3,800 lives across the globe and has infected over 1,09,000 people around the world since it first broke out in December 2019. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan (the epicenter of the outbreak), other countries including Iran, Italy, Japan and the Philippines have also reported deaths related to novel coronavirus.

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across 20 countries since December 2019. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19. 

READ | Test Results Of Man Who Died In WB Hospital's Isolation Ward Show No Coronavirus Infection: Official