Air India suspends its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight till Feb 14 amid coronavirus scare

Amid the deadly coronavirus break out in China's Wuhan city, Air India has suspended its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight from January 31 to February 14, the airline said on Wednesday.

"AI 348/349- Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight has been cancelled from January 31st to February 14th. #coronavirus," Air India tweeted.

The airline has waived the cancellation charges for travel to and from Shanghai and Hong Kong.

"Cancellation charges for travel to/from Shanghai and Hong Kong on Air India flights are waived off with immediate effect till further notice," read another tweet of Air India.

The Union Health Ministry has also issued an advisory to Indian travellers asking them to avoid travelling to China unless very necessary.

So far, no Indian has been reported to be infected with the deadly Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) that was detected in China's Wuhan and has spread to other parts of the world too. It has claimed over 100 lives so far.

Coronaviruses (nCoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

Common symptoms of nCoV infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

( With inputs from ANI )