Egypt Air airlifted stranded Americans from Delhi

A special flight of Egypt Air carrying 215 stranded United States nationals on-board departed from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Delhi Airport a day earlier, an airport official said on Wednesday.

The flight will reach Salt Lake City in Utah, western United States, via Cairo in Egypt.

The Trump administration had last month said that it is coordinating with the Indian government to evacuate stranded American citizens from the country who have expressed interest to return to the US, amid the rapid spread of coronavirus pandemic that has upended life, disrupted travel and killed over 37,500 people.

The development, especially after India, suspended all international flights from landing at any airport in the country in view to curb the further spread of the contagious virus that infected 1,396 people in India.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States has increased to 3,415 and infection tally has increased to 175,067. Coronavirus cases are continuing to surge giving rise to fears of a potential US drug supply shortage prompted by the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier this week, the United States had announced financial assistance of 274 million US Dollars to 64 countries including 2.9 million US Dollars to India to help the countries in their fight against coronavirus.