India airlifted a second batch of stranded citizens from China’s Wuhan city on early Sunday.
“The 2nd #AirIndia flight from #Wuhan has just taken off for #Delhi with 323 Indian citizens on board. 7 Maldives citizens are also being evacuated. Grateful once again to @MFA_China and local authorities all across #Hubei for their assistance. @MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar @EOIBeijing,” Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said in a tweet.
“Want to thank my team at @EOIBeijing which mounted a non-stop almost 96-hour long operation to coordinate a complex airlift under challenging circumstances for us, the passengers and local authorities in #Hubei and #Wuhan,” he added.
Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Shahid in a tweet said, “7 Maldivians in #Wuhan are on their way to Delhi on a special #AirIndia flight. Upon arrival they will be housed in Delhi for a period of quarantine. Deep gratitude to PM @narendramodi and EM @DrSJaishankar. Special thanks to Ambassadors @VikramMisri @sunjaysudhir and their teams.”
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday chaired a review meeting on preparedness for management of Novel Coronavirus with senior officers of the Ministry.
Cabinet Secretary also held a high-level review meeting on the preparedness for Novel Coronavirus with Secretaries of Health, Civil Aviation, Textiles, Pharmaceutical, DHR, and Dte. General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Cabinet Secretary has held five review meetings so far.
Till Saturday, 52,332 passengers from 326 flights have been screened. Total of 97 symptomatic travellers picked up by the IDSP have been referred to the isolation facilities. 98 samples have been tested of which 97 have been found to be negative. The earlier positive case found in Kerala is being monitored and is stable, the statement said.
In addition, Secretary (HFW) had a video conference to review the process of screening passengers from different countries. Apart from passengers coming from China and Hong Kong, passengers coming on flights from Singapore and Thailand shall also be universally screened at the airports, hence forth.
On February 1, an Air India flight carrying 324 Indian nationals from the coronavirus hit Hubei Province of China arrived in India. Of these, 104 are housed at ITBP Chawla Camp and 220 are in Manesar. They are being effectively monitored.
