Maldivians evacuated from Coronavirus-hit Wuhan discharged from ITBP to return home

The seven Maldivian nationals who were evacuated from the Coronavirus-hit Wuhan will be returning to their homeland on Tuesday. They were discharged from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)- managed quarantine facility in Chhawla on Monday night after having tested negative of Coronavirus. 

As per reports, the seven Maldivians had arrived in India alongside 323 Indians on a special Air India flight which had been sent to China as part of an evacuation operation. Immediately after arriving, they were sent to quarantine facilities run by the Indian Army and ITBP, where they stayed for over two weeks. Further reports stated that a total of 640 Indians had been evacuated from China in two special operations.

Health Min meets the first batch at ITBP

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday met the first batch of Indians who had been airlifted from Wuhan earlier at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Facility in Chhawla. In a coordinated operation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Air India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, two Special Air India flights were operated between Delhi and Wuhan on January 31 and February 1. The two flights airlifted a total of 654 passengers that included 647 Indian citizens including two Indian Embassy officials who were on the ground in Wuhan to coordinate the evacuation operation, and 7 Maldivian nationals.

Read: Coronavirus: Delhi govt's Maharishi Valmiki Hospital suspends biometric attendance

Death toll rises in Mainland China

The death toll for the novel Coronavirus hit 1,868 in the last 24 hours in mainland China. As per the Chinese state health committee, it has increased by 98 in just one day. The committee also added that the number of confirmed cases has gone up by 1,886 to 72,436. 

Read: Ministry taking Coronavirus seriously while granting Visa to Chinese wrestlers: Rijiju

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across 20 countries since December 2019. About 1,701 people have recovered from the disease, whereas, a total of 12,552 coronavirus patients have by now been discharged from hospitals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19. 

Read: Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan confirms 99 new cases of Coronavirus

Read: Coronavirus death toll increases by 98 to 1,868 within 24 hours in China

(With ANI Inputs)