Coronavirus: 104 evacuated from China admitted to ITBP facility in Delhi

A total of 104 Indians have been admitted to an ITBP facility here after they were evacuated from coronavirus-affected Wuhan city of China by a special Air India flight on Saturday, a senior official said.

Out of the total 324 who landed here this morning, 88 women, 10 men and six children were brought to the special quarantine facility in south west Delhi's Chhawla area, ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.

"All the passengers were first screened at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and now a second screening is being done by doctors at the Chhawla facility," he said, adding that doctors and other specialists will work at the centre round-the-clock.

A team of 25 doctors 15 from Safdarjung Hospital and 10 from ITBP have been stationed at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) premises that houses its sector headquarters for logistics and communication.

All the passengers will be monitored for possible signs of infection for a stipulated duration at the centre, similar to the one prepared by the Army in Manesar area near here.

The building complex has operational kitchens and bathrooms apart from communication amenities like telephones and Wi-Fi.

While the first plane, Air India's jumbo B747 aircraft carrying 211 students, 110 working professionals and three minors-, reached Delhi around 7.30 am, the second AI flight is expected to carry out a similar operation and evacuate more Indians from Wuhan later in the day.

Wuhan, Hubei's capital, is the epicentre of the outbreak. The virus has killed 259 people in China with total confirmed cases surging to 11,791.