Covid-19: China to evacuate its citizens facing ‘difficulties’ in India
China today announced its decision to pull out its citizens -- including students, tourists and businessmen -- from India who are facing "difficulties" in the country and want to return home in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi put up a notice on its website asking those who want to return home to book tickets for special flights, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
The move to evacuate its citizens came as the number of Covid-19 positive cases reached nearly 1.40 lakh across India, making it the tenth worst-hit country in the pandemic.
The novel coronavirus, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has spread to over 190 countries, infecting over 54 lakh people and taking lives of 3.4 lakh so far.
India earlier evacuated around 700 Indians from Wuhan in February.
China's decision to evacuate its citizens from India also came at a time when the armed forces of the two nations are locked in a tense standoff in the disputed areas of Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh in the western Himalayas for more than two weeks.
The notice in Mandarin said people being treated for Covid-19 or having symptoms of the infection like fever and cough in the last 14 days should not take the special flights
"If your body temperature exceeds 37.3 degrees (inclusive) before boarding or if you have suspected symptoms, you will be refused boarding by the airline," the notice said.
The Chinese Embassy also said in the notice that the Chinese nationals opting to return home will have to accept all quarantine and epidemic prevention arrangements during the flight as well as after entering China.
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