Working hard to ensure smooth evacuation of Indians from Hubei: Indian Embassy

The Indian Embassy here on Wednesday said that it was working hard to ensure smooth evacuation of the citizens from Hubei, the epicentre of deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 130 people in the East Asian country so far.

"The embassy is working hard to ensure smooth evacuation of our citizens from Hubei province. We are already in touch with many sections of the Indian community in Hubei, including our students," the embassy said in a tweet.

"We urge all Indian citizens from Hubei who have not yet contacted the Embassy to do so urgently on our hotlines (+8618610952903, +8618612083629, +8618612083617) or dedicated email ID helpdesk," the thread added.

The Ministry of External Affairs initiated the evacuation process for Indian citizens residing in Wuhan on Tuesday after talks with the Chinese authorities.

The Government of India has issued a travel advisory, asking the people to refrain from travelling to China.

In addition, the thermal screening facilities, as a precautionary measure, have been extended to 21 airports now including Gaya, Guwahati, Vizag, Varanasi, and Goa.

A total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened at different airports till Monday.

The Wuhan coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been identified before. The exact source of infection of 2019 nCoV is not known yet.

Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that cause respiratory 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).

The symptoms reported in patients with nCoV include acute onset of fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. The infection results in severe complications and even death.

According to the Union Health Ministry, there are confirmed cases of 2019 nCoV in India so far. Suspected cases are being monitored and identified through disease surveillance.

( With inputs from ANI )