Published 11:20 IST, February 1st 2020
Harbhajan Singh salutes Air India for coming to the rescue of Indians in Wuhan
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh hailed India's national carrier Air India for coming to the rescue of the Indians stranded in Wuhan amid the outbreak
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh hailed India's national carrier Air India for coming to the rescue of the Indians stranded in Wuhan amid the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. The Air India special flight carrying 324 Indians that took off from China's Wuhan on Saturday landed at Delhi airport at 7.26 am. Air India's special B747 flight was sent to Wuhan to airlift the Indian students and professionals from Wuhan which has become the epicenter for the Coronavirus epidemic. As per officials, Coronavirus screening will be conducted by a team of doctors at Delhi Airport for all the 324 Indians who have arrived in the Air India special flight. Later on, if necessary, they will be put under medical observation. Earlier, the Indian Army sprung in action to create an emergency quarantine facility near Manesar to be monitored for a duration of two weeks by a team of doctors to watch for any signs and symptoms of the novel disease.
Harbhajan Singh salutes Air India
On Friday, Minister for External Affairs (MEA) S. Jaishankar tweeted to thank the Chinese government for their cooperation in the airlifting of Indian students from Wuhan. The Foreign Minister stated that he had personally called the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to thank him for their help and had also agreed to stay in touch with the Chinese government to help tackle the novel Coronavirus.
WHO declares Global Health Emergency
The death toll due to the novel Coronavirus in China is increasing as days pass by. The death toll from China's new coronavirus outbreak has risen to 259 and the tally of confirmed infections has surged to nearly 12,000, the government said on Saturday. The WHO had initially played down the threat posed by Coronavirus, but later revised its risk assessment after crisis talks on Thursday.
"We must all act together now to limit further spread... We can only stop it together," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said while briefing in Geneva. Although Tedros said that imposing restrictions on travel and trade restrictions with China were futile in efforts to stem the spread of Coronavirus which has now affected several countries around the world.
Updated 11:20 IST, February 1st 2020