Defence News
Covid-19 : 120 Indians from Iran to reach Jaisalmer today, to be quarantined at Army facility
All the 120 Indians who are being evacuated from Iran will be quarantined at an Army facility created in Jaisalmer, a defence spokesperson said on Thursday.
HIGHLIGHTS
- An Air India flight from Iran will reach Jaisalmer on Friday
- 120 Indians who will be evacuated will be quarantined at an Army facility
- Another batch will be airlifted from Iran on March 15
An Air India flight, with 150 Indians being evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran, will reach Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Friday. All the 120 Indians who are being evacuated from Iran will be quarantined at an Army facility created in Jaisalmer, a defence spokesperson said on Thursday.
All the 120 Indians will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility.
“They will be quarantined at an Indian Army facility created under the aegis of Southern Command. The patients will be transferred from the airport post their initial screening to the quarantine facility under the escort of civil administration,” Defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said.
Another batch of 250 Indians will be air evacuated from Iran on March 14. They will be airlifted from Iran and quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer.
The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought to back from coronavirus-hit countries.Officials said defence facilities are also ready in Jodhpur, Jhansi, Deolali, Kolkata, Chennai and Suratgarh for quarantine. Sources say if required military field hospitals can be set up at a short notice.
“There are 265 citizens in two military facilities in Hindon and Manesar. We are expecting more to be brought back to India in the next 2-3 days,” Spokesperson Indian Army Col Aman Anand said, giving details of defence establishments being used as quarantine facilities.The Army is incurring an approximate expenditure of Rs 3.5 lakh per day in running the quarantine facility in Manesar for those being brought back from countries that have been severely hit by coronavirus.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had on Thursday said the initial focus was to bring back Indian pilgrims stranded in Iran, which is grappling with cases of coronavirus.The outbreak of coronavirus is a “matter of concern” and “we need to respond responsibly”, he told Lok Sabha as he spoke on the current situation.He said around 6,000 Indians are stranded in Iran, including 1,100 pilgrims from Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.
The disease, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year, has spread to more than 100 countries across the world, infecting over 125,000 people globally.The first confirmed case of death from coronavirus in India has been reported from Karnataka’s Kalaburgi. A 76-year-old man who had recently passed away has been confirmed as a case of Covid-19 death.
“The 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi who passed away and was a suspected Covid-19 patient has been confirmed for Covid-19” B Sriramulu, Karnataka health minister said in a tweet.
