117 out of 1,191 passengers evacuated from Sudan under Operation Kaveri put under quarantine

New Delhi [India], April 29 : Under Operation Kaveri, a total of 1,191 passengers have been evacuated from Sudan of which 117 are currently under quarantine as they are not vaccinated against Yellow Fever. The passengers will be released after seven days if they remain asymptomatic, according to an official press release.

The Indian government under Operation Kaveri, is set to evacuate about 3,000 Indian-origin passengers from Sudan.

India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs to carry forward the operation.

According to the official release, necessary quarantine facilities are being arranged at transit junctures in mission mode for incoming passengers.

These passengers are provided rent-free accommodation with free food facilities in quarantine centres managed by Airport Health Officers (APHO)s, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at various hospitals across states holding a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as well as central government hospitals in Delhi such as Safdarjung Hospital.

Arrangements have also been made at RHTC, Najafgarh (100 beds); NITR, Mehrauli (40 beds) and Lady Hardinge Medical College (60 beds).

Under Operation Kaveri, the first batch of 360 passengers arrived in Delhi from Sudan, none of whom required quarantine, followed by a second flight which arrived in Mumbai with 240 passengers on April 26 of which 14 were quarantined.

Two were released after the validation of their vaccination certificates. The remaining 12 will complete their quarantine period till today evening (as they were in transit for 4 days at Jeddah), as per the official release.

The third Operation Kaveri flight arrived in Bengaluru yesterday afternoon with 360 passengers of which 47 passengers were initially quarantined. Three were released today after verification of vaccination.

As per official information, the verification of five more passengers is in process. The fourth flight containing passengers arrived in Delhi yesterday evening with 231 passengers of which 61 were quarantined (one was later released). A total of 35 passengers are at Delhi APHO and 26 passengers are at Safdarjung Hospital.

The fifth flight is expected to arrive in Delhi tonight with 367 passengers and an additional flight with 320 passengers is expected to arrive tomorrow morning at 10:30 am in Bengaluru.

The number of those quarantined will be dynamic as it is dependent on the verification status of passengers' passport number(s).

'Operation Kaveri' is a rescue operation launched by the Government of India to evacuate Indian citizens who are stranded in Sudan. It was launched on April 24, 2023, in response to the Sudan crisis.

A team of officials including the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian embassy in Sudan has been appointed by the Indians to ensure the proper process of evacuation gets followed. During the evacuation, Indians will be transferred from Sudan to the capital city of Khartoum from where they will be flown back to India.