BSS-41 India to launch evacuation to bring back its citizens from abroad

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ZCZC

BSS-41

INDIA-EVACUATION-COVID-19

India to launch evacuation to bring back its citizens from abroad

NEW DELHI, May 5, 2020 (BSS) – India is going to lunch a massive evacuation
programme on Thursday to bring back its citizens remained stranded abroad,
including Bangladesh, in the wake of global outbreak of Covid-19.

The evacuation mission would be conducted by air and ship since nearly two
lakhs Indians have requested the government to bring them home by special
flights, said aviation minister Hardeep Puri on Tuesday.

Those Indians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus outbreak will be
charged for the flights bringing them home, he said.

This will be the biggest evacuation effort since national flag carrier Air
India flew back 1,70,000 during the first Gulf War.

On return, all asymptomatic Indians will be asked to self quarantine for 14
days, the minister said adding that all prescribed health guidelines would be
followed to this end.

On the first day of evacuation on May 7, 10 flights will bring back 2,300
Indians stranded because of airspace closures by various countries to slow
the spread of coronavirus.

Flights from India will go to the US, the Philippines, Singapore,
Bangladesh, the UAE, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, Oman, Bahrain
and Kuwait to begin with, India’s private TV channel NDTV reported quoting
foreign ministry.

The next day, there will be flights to 13 countries spread across the
Middle East, Europe, South East Asia and the United States of America.

Indians will be brought from eight countries, including the US, the UK and
the UAE the day after.

Besides, the three ships -INS Shardul, INS Magar and INS Jalashwa- are
deployed by the Indian Navy while nearly 30 aircraft of Indian Air Force have
been prepared for the mission, the report said.

India banned all flights in late March as it imposed one of the world’s
strictest lockdowns to check COVID-19, leaving thousands of workers and
students stranded.

However, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,568 and the number of
cases climbed to 46,433 in India on Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry said.

The number of active cases stood at 32,138, while 12,726 people have
recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

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