The Indian government has announced that it has begun preparations to evacuate its citizens from the virus-hit Hubei province of China.
“We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province, China. Our Embassy in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese government authorities and our nationals on this matter. We will continue to share updates,” Raveesh Kumar, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, tweeted.
The death toll has climbed to 106 and the confirmed cases of the outbreak stand at 4,515.
Air India has kept a 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for evacuating Indian citizens, an official source said on Tuesday.
Ministries of civil aviation and health will make arrangements for transport and quarantine facilities respectively, an official statement said on Monday.
The civil aviation ministry has also been asked to issue instructions to airlines for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on all direct and indirect flights from China.
The decision follows the government's instructions to various ministries to deal with the situation.
At a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary on Monday, it was decided that steps may be taken to prepare for the possible evacuation of Indian nationals.
Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. The outbreak in China has been caused by a novel strain of the virus.
Wuhan along with 12 other cities have been completely sealed by the Chinese authorities to stop the virus from spreading.
