An Iranian Mahan Air flight carrying 277 Indians from Iran, a major hotspot for the Covid-19 pandemic, landed in New Delhi early on Wednesday, two Indian government officials said.
All the 277, who had tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, have been taken to Jodhpur where they will quarantined for 14 days in the Army Wellness Facility established in Jodhpur Military Station, an army spokesman said.
Wednesday’s flight is one of two expected in India this week as New Delhi plans to evacuate 500-600 of its people, mainly students and pilgrims, from Iran, At present, Mahan Air and Iran Air operate flight services between India and Iran. These flights were discontinued to check the spread of the global pandemic. India has imposed an embargo on all international carriers till 31 March.
Foreign minister S. Jaishankar had told Parliament earlier this month that there were 6,000 Indians in Iran. Of these, 255 had tested positive for Covid-19, minister of state for foreign affairs, V. Muraleedharan, told Parliament in a separate statement. Those found positive for Covid-19 have been shifted to a wellness centre set up by the Indian embassy in Qom, south of Tehran, where they were being attended to by Indian student volunteers and Iranian doctors, according to Twitter posts by the Indian embassy in Tehran.
Worldwide, Covid-19 has claimed almost 19,000 lives and infected more than 420,000 people. In Iran, the toll was inching towards the 2,000 mark on Wednesday, according to the live tracker of the disease established by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.
