Coronavirus Crisis: Air India's B747 Plane To Depart For Beijing Today, Only Non-Infected To Be Evacuated

As coronavirus takes over China, an Air India B747 aircraft is all set to depart from Delhi at 12.30 pm to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from the country. "The B747 plane is all set to depart from Delhi at 12.30 pm. It came from Mumbai on Friday morning only," said a senior airline official. The death count in the novel coronavirus outbreak has climbed to 213 with the number of confirmed cases totalling to 9,692.

Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 5,806 confirmed cases, including 204 deaths. A total of 213 people have died of the disease as of Thursday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The aircraft will leave Delhi after it is loaded with special medical kits meant for the purpose. The crew, which includes at least two doctors has been directed to only allow non-infected people into the aircraft. Food packets and water will be kept on each seat.

Centre Reached Out To Indians In China

Centre has reached out to over 600 Indians living in Hubei province, to ascertain their willingness to be brought back to India. India has already approached Chinese authorities to allow it to send two flights to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, to bring back Indian nationals from the province.

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"We have established contact with over 600 Indians across the province and are individually ascertaining their willingness to be repatriated. Our Mission in Beijing is working round-the-clock on the ground to work out the necessary logistics," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.

The UN health agency on Friday declared an international emergency over the deadly novel coronavirus from China -- a rarely used designation that could lead to improved international co-ordination in tackling the disease.

About 20 countries, including India, have reported confirmed cases of the virus in travellers coming from China.

China said it has full confidence and capability to win the fight against the epidemic.

To curb the epidemic, China has decided to adopt a host of measures including delaying and reducing conferences and major events, extending the current Spring Festival holidays and supporting online work. 

China is rushing to build a new hospital in a record breaking time to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported last week. The facility in the central city of Wuhan is expected to be in use by February 3 to serve a rising number of patients infected by a coronavirus that has left at least 26 people dead and millions on lockdown in an effort to curb the spread. Dozens of excavators and trucks were filmed working on the site by state broadcaster CCTV.