India urges its citizens in Hubei who wish to return to get in touch with it before 7 pm today

Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei Province and wishing to return to India can urgently call hotlines +8618610952903 and +8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today, Indian embassy in Beijing said.

Beijing:Indian embassy in Beijing on Monday urged Indian nationals living in Chinese coronavirus hit Hubei province who intend to avail the flight which will return to India after delivering a consignment of medical supplies to contact them before 7 pm.

In a series of tweets on Monday, the embassy said, "GoI will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to support China to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indians wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei."

"Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei Province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOIBeijing in the past two weeks. We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei who intend to avail this flight and have not yet contacted us, to urgently call our hotlines +8618610952903 and +8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today (17 February 2020)," it added.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri expressing his solidarity with the people of China in their fight against the coronavirus epidemic on Sunday announced that New Delhi will be sending a consignment of medical supplies to China to help with the relief effort.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has gone up to 1,770 in China, with the total number of registered cases standing at 70,548, reported Chinese Health Authorities, according to South China Morning Post.

(With Inputs from ANI)