India urges citizens to 'refrain from travelling to China' amid coronavirus outbreak

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a travel advisory for Indian citizens on Wednesday. This comes amid a constant escalation in the spread of novel coronavirus which has killed nearly 132 people and infected nearly 6,000 across China. 

Helpline number

The ministry led by Harsh Vardhan had issued the advisory keeping in view the recent gush of cases being reported from across the globe as well as all the travel-related cases that have emerged. The advisory urged citizens to refrain from travelling to China and asked all the travellers from China to monitor their health closely. Adding to that, it provided a helpline number for any queries related to coronavirus. 

Read: Indian Embassy Issues Advisory To Chinese Travellers As Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 25

Read: India To Evacuate Its Nationals From Wuhan, Makes Formal Request To China For Facilitation: Govt

On Tuesday, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed the preparedness to deal with the deadly virus after which the government said India has made a formal request to China for facilitating the evacuation of Indians from Wuhan. The Civil Aviation Ministry will make necessary arrangements for evacuation after the approval of Chinese authorities is received, a release from the Union Health Ministry said.

Asserting that there was no confirmed case of the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said India was making all efforts to detect and check the spread of the virus.

As part of the preparedness, India has also increased the number of airports from seven to 20 to do a thermal screening of passengers for possible exposure to the deadly nCoV, and made four more laboratories functional other than NIV-Pune for testing samples. As the deadly virus continues to spread in various provinces in China, Indian students, hailing from various states including Gujarat, have expressed their desire to return.

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Read: J&K Government Orders Corona Virus Screening At Airports

(with inputs from agencies)