External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday informed that an Indian medical screening team will reach Iran today as an estimated 1200 Indians, mostly students and pilgrims are stranded in the country amid the Coronavirus outbreak.
He said the first clinic at Qom is likely to be set up by Thursday evening to start screening Indian nationals for COVID-19 and added that the Government is working on logistics with Iranian authorities for the return of the stranded persons.
“Hope to establish first clinic at Qom by this evening. Working on logistics of return with Iranian authorities,” he said in a tweet.
Group of Ministers constantly monitoring progress. Understand the concern of families.
Keep faith.— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 5, 2020
An estimated 1,200 Indians, mostly students and pilgrims, are in Iran currently. Earlier, the government brought back 767 people from China and carried out two evacuation missions. All of them have been kept in quarantine and have so far tested negative for Coronavirus.
According to reports, one scientist from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune has been sent to Iran while three more from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) left at 4 pm on Wednesday to check the feasibility of setting up a laboratory there for conducting the Coronavirus test.
Earlier in the day, on Indians stranded in Iran, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had said: “We are particularly concerned about Indian pilgrims and students stranded in Iran. The Indian government is following up with Iran on their condition.”
Meanwhile, the death toll due to Coronavirus has crossed 100 in Iran. The country has seen the world’s deadliest Coronavirus outbreak outside China.
Globally, more than 92,000 people have tested positive for Coronavirus and over 3,200 have died.