Harsh Vardhan hails agencies involved in evacuation in Wuhan  

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan thanked the institutions who partnered for carrying out the evacuation process in Wuhan amid the outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus in China.

The minister made a detailed statement in the Lok Sabha on Monday on the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China and some other countries and the action taken by the government to avoid the spread of the infection in India.

He said, "I take this opportunity to thank Air India, its crew and our team of doctors and para medical staff who executed this challenging operation and place on record the appreciation on behalf of this august House for their contribution."

In view of the continuing lock down of Hubei province in China, the Indian government decided to evacuate the Indian students and other professionals working in Wuhan and neighbouring cities in Hubei province.

In a coordinated operation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Air India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, two Special Air India flights were operated between Delhi and Wuhan on January 31 and February 1 that brought back a total of 654 passengers that included 647 Indian citizens including two Indian Embassy officials who were on the ground in Wuhan to coordinate the evacuation operation and 7 Maldivian nationals.-IANS