Coronavirus Outbreak: India all set to evacuate nationals from Wuhan

Following the outbreak of novel Coronavirus, India is all set to evacuate 250 nationals from China's Wuhan. The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that with the cooperation of the Chinese government, India is trying to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane.

New Delhi: India is all set to evacuate 250 nationals from Coronavirus hit China's Wuhan and Hubei province.

The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the Indian Embassy in Beijing is in close contact with the Chinese government in order to facilitate the evacuation process of the Indians, mostly students, from Wuhan by sending a plane due to coronavirus outbreak.

"Our Embassy is in contact with the Chinese government. We are trying to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane. Efforts are on. I can assure you that the Government of India is working on it and very soon some solution will be found," Jaishankar said.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, "we have begun the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of Corona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. Our mission in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese government, authorities and our nationals on this matter."

With every passing day, the death toll from the deadly coronavirus is climbing. So far, 106 have lost their life in China with 2,744 confirmed cases of the disease reported from the country.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

India's Civil Aviation Ministry has also opened health camps at seven Indian airports across the country to screen passengers arriving from China as well as Hong Kong.

(Input from ANI)