Local and foreign nationals in China are having a tough time due to the ongoing coronavirus scare. Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China is the worst hit with the virus with more than 4000 detected positive so far. The death toll has gone up to 106. The virus has increased concerns of the neighboring countries as well. The government of India has on January 28, 2020 to allow a flight that would evacuate 300 Indian citizens from Wuhan, which is the worst hit so far.
Hundreds of Indians reside in Hubei and majority of them are students. However, many of the students left the city due to the Chinese New Year holidays. A formal request has been made by the external affairs ministry to China to speed up the evacuation process of the Indian nationals who reside in Wuhan. An official statement from New Delhi has said that the civil aviation ministry will be making arrangements after it receives an approval from the authorities in China. The government also assured that once the people are evacuated, they will be kept in quarantine for 14 days and all the necessary arrangements are being made.
People who are familiar with the development have said that the Director General of Civil Aviation has approved a flight from Air India that will be flying to Wuhan for evacuation purpose. The number is about 300 which include research scholars, students and professionals who are expected to be evacuated from the city. The Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on January 28, 2020 said that thermal screening of the passengers for the coronavirus infection will be done at 20 more airports. At present seven airports have the facility.
Harsh Vardhan also assured that no case has been detected in India so far. In the upcoming days, more labs will be equipped for testing samples. At present the National Institute of Virology-Pune is conducting the tests.
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