Indians in China return home amid virus outbreak

NEW DELHI, India 

A total of 324 Indians, the majority students, arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Gurgaon, near Delhi, early Saturday on a specially-prepped Air India Boeing 747 flight from China amid a coronavirus outbreak.

After an initial screening at the airport, they were taken to quarantine facilities created by the Indian Armed Force for observation, across two locations on the outskirts of Delhi.

They were screened at the airport by a joint team of Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) and Airport Health Authority (APHO) and classified into “suspected case,” “close contact,” and “non-contact case.”

The “close contact” are cases those who have not shown symptoms but visited affected areas in the last few days or have had contacts with someone with symptoms.

“We sincerely thank the Chinese government for facilitating this flight. We look forward to operating another flight to evacuate remaining Indian nationals, who have consented to leave Hubei Province for the time being. We urge all Indian citizens from Hubei who intend to avail this flight for India and not yet contacted the Embassy, to urgently call the hotlines,” the Indian Embassy in China tweeted.

The flight had five doctors from Delhi-based Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, one paramedical staff from Air India and prescribed medicines, masks, overcoats and packed food.

After the first round of screening, passengers were all taken to the quarantined facility. The army, responding Friday to the emergency requirement, announced a set-up of a 300-bed facility at Manesar, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Delhi. The students will be kept at the facility for two weeks under observation for signs of infections.
“The facility consists of accommodation barracks, administrative areas, and medical facility area. To prevent a mass outbreak, the facility has been divided into sectors, each with a maximum capacity of 50. Each barrack has been further subdivided into barracks. The population of sectors will not be allowed to intermingle with each other,” the army said in a statement.
“After 14 days at this facility, the persons with no symptoms will be allowed to go home with their detailed documentation sent to the District/ State surveillance units for further surveillance. Those found infected will be shifted to the isolation ward for further medical exams and recovery. Samples for viral confirmation will be sent to NCDC, Delhi and patients will be discharged only after clinical recovery and two successive negative samples tested for n-COV,” it added.
Another 600-bed facility has been set-up by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at Southwest Delhi’s Chhawla, to quarantine families coming from Wuhan, China. The Indian government will be send a second flight for evacuation Saturday.

On Thursday, India confirmand its first coronavirus case in a student from Kerela, who returned from Wuhan.

So far, more than 213 people have lost their lives in China with 9,692 infected since the outbreak. The World Health Organization has declared a global emergency.