21 Kerala Students Stranded In Chinese Airport, Airlines Refuse To Fly Due To Coronavirus Scare

The External Affairs Ministry has reportedly begun the process to bring back 21 Indian students who are stranded in China following the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The students, studying Medicine at Dalian Medical University, China were stranded at Kunming airport in China.

REUTERS/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

The students, including 15 girls, all from Kerala were trying to return to India after the area in which they were residing reported an increase in the number of Coronavirus cases.

They had booked tickets to India via Singapore on February 3 and when they reached the Kunming airport, Scoot Airlines refused to let them board the flight.

This was due to the ban imposed on the arrival of foreign nationals from China in Singapore.

REUTERS/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

The students got stranded at the airport as they had reportedly left the Dalian Medical University after giving a written undertaking that they will not return.

Earlier, the Indian government had said that it had completed the evaluation of its citizens for Wuhan, the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Air India had flown two flights to China, bringing back 324 and 323 nationals respectively. Among these, most of them are students. All the evacuees are currently held at an ITBP quarantine facility in Manesar for 14 days, where they will be observed for any symptoms of the deadly infection.

AFP

Five of them have been taken to a military hospital in the Capital after developing cough and cold. The symptoms of the coronavirus infection start with fever, dry cough followed by breathing problems, according to doctors. Samples collected from them were sent for various tests to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.

So far India has only reported three confirmed cases of the Coronavirus. All the cases were reported in Kerala and the patients are all students who had recently returned for China.

BCCL

On Monday, the Kerala government had declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a state calamity after a third patient was tested positive for the deadly infection.

Kerala health minister said that the condition of all three are stable and that the two patients who had earlier tested positive have shown signs of improvement.

While urging people to remain cautious, she reiterated that there was no need for panic and appealed to everyone to strictly follow the guidelines issued by the government.

Kerala, which has experience in dealing with the Nipah outbreak in 2018 is perhaps the best-equipped state in the country to combat another deadly viral infection in the form of the Coronavirus.