India issues fresh advisory, asks people not to travel to China
As the lethal coronavirus continues to spread far and wide claiming 132 lives and infecting over 6,000 others in China alone, India on Wednesday issued a fresh advisory asking people not to undertake “unnecessary” travel to the neighbouring country. Also, its only two passenger carriers that fly to China — IndiGo and Air India — announced suspension of most of their flights to the country as a precautionary measure.
Airlines based in Asia, North America and Europe have already announced restricted operations to the region in view of the outbreak of the virus.
India has requested China for permission to operate two flights to bring back its nationals from Hubei Province, the epicentre of the outbreak, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
The Indian Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday circulated registration forms and consent notes for the Indians in Wuhan and Hubei province to be filled by them.
While IndiGo airlines said on Wednesday that due to coronavirus outbreak in China, it has decided to suspend its flights on the Bengaluru-Hong Kong route from February 1 and on the Delhi-Chengdu route from February 1 to 20. Air India spokesperson said the national carrier is suspending its flights on Delhi-Shanghai route from January 31 to February 14.
In India, many people are under observation in hospitals for suspected coronavirus infection, including in Maharashtra, Goa, Odisha and the national Capital. The Union Health Ministry has asked people to use 24x7 helpline (011-23978046) for queries related to respiratory infection.
Efforts have been stepped up to handle any emergency situation in case arising due to the mysterious disease. Thermal screening has been expanded to 20 airports from seven, along with addition of 10 new laboratories to test the virus, as a precautionary measure.
The Government has activated four new laboratories —the Indian Council of Medical Research’s viral research and diagnostics lab network — at Alleppey, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai for testing samples. So far, Pune’s National Institute of Virology was conducting the tests. A total of 20 samples have so far been tested by NIV Pune and all were found negative.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Port Trust has been instructed not to give shore permit to any vessel coming from China.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has been told to ask airlines to make in-flight announcement and distribute “health cards” to all flights with direct or indirect connectivity to China. The Home Ministry has to ensure integrated check posts initiate screening of visitors across Nepal border.
People returning to the country after visiting China are being regularly screened for the deadly virus at airports across the country.
Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. The virus is a novel strain not seen before.