'Flight carrying 177 stranded Indians from Sharjah to reach Lucknow on Saturday': UP Min

A flight carrying 177 stranded Indians from Sharjah will reach Lucknow on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Gupta said while speaking to Republic TV on Friday. He said that 177 people who will be arriving in the country belong to different parts of the state.

'Those having symptoms will be quarantined'

"All these people will be examined after landing in Lucknow and those having symptoms will be quarantined for 14 days in a hotel," he said. The minister added that people will bear the expenses of staying in the hotel. 

First two AI Express flights land in Kerala 

Meanwhile, launching its biggest ever repatriation exercise, India on Thursday airlifted 363 of its citizens, including nine infants, stranded in the United Arab Emirates due to the international travel lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the first Air India Express flight carrying 177 passengers and four infants from Abu Dhabi landed at Kochi at 10.09 pm, the second flight from Dubai carrying the same number of passengers and five infants landed at Kozhikode a few minutes later at 10.32 pm.

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The massive repatriation exercise is named 'Vande Bharat Mission'. The evacuated citizens will be sent to the Institutional Quarantine facilities set up by the district administrations in their respective districts, Kerala government officials said. All domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended during the three phase lockdown which began on March 25 and will continue till May 17.

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The number of Coronavirus patients in Uttar Pradesh crossed the 3000-mark, with 73 fresh cases and two more deaths reported on Thursday, officials said. The death toll due to the disease has risen to 62 in the state. According to a health department bulletin, 67 of the 75 districts in the state have detected a total of 3,071 patients, of which 1250 recovered, while 1759 are undergoing treatment.

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(With agency inputs)