One COVID-19 positive Indian dead in Iran, India to bring back more of its nationals from Italy

India on Thursday confirmed the death of one of its citizens in Iran due to COVID-19 infection, even as it prepared to evacuate more of its nationals from Italy.

New Delhi set up a wellness centre at Qom in Iran for COVID-19 positive Indian citizens, who remained stranded in the Persian Gulf nation. The High Commission of India in Singapore also facilitated the return of about 90 Indian citizens – mostly students – to the country, after they had been stranded in transit at the airport in the city-state due to restrictions imposed by New Delhi on flight operations.

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An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft will fly to Rome on Saturday and return with over 200 Indian citizens on Sunday, Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary at the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, told journalists during a briefing on the efforts made by the government to deal with the pandemic.

The Government had on Sunday evacuated 218 Indian citizens, mostly students, from Italy.

Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said that a medical team sent from New Delhi had collected swab samples of about 400 Indian citizens stranded in Italy. The samples had been sent to New Delhi and 376 of them had been tested negative for COVID-19 infection. The government would bring back home only the people who had been tested negative, said Ravi, who was assigned to coordinate New Delhi's multi-agency response to the pandemic on behalf of the MEA.

The four persons, who had been tested positive for the Covid-19 infections, would not be evacuated immediately, as the government had decided against bringing back home citizens, who are currently in any foreign country and had already been infected by the virus.

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The first batch of 218 Indian citizens had also been airlifted from Italy last Sunday, only after they had been tested negative for the COVID-19 infection. But, after their arrival in New Delhi, they all had been quarantined in a facility set up by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at Chhawla in the National Capital Territory. They would remain quarantined for 14 days.

The second batch of COVID-19 negative Indian citizens, who would be evacuated from Italy during the weekend, would also be quarantined after their arrival, officials said.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which Air India will send to Rome on Saturday, has a capacity of 236 passengers. New Delhi will take a call on sending another aircraft later to evacuate the remaining COVID-19 negative Indian citizens from Italy.

The Government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that 255 Indian citizens currently in Iran had been tested positive for the Covid-19 infection.

The government officials confirmed that one of them had died in Iran.

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“We have evacuated about 590 people from Iran where the situation is very severe. Indians infected with COVID-19 virus in Iran have been segregated & taken care of very well. We believe they will recover and we will bring them back,” Ravi, the MEA additional secretary, said.

The Embassy of India in Tehran now set up a wellness centre for the COVID-19 positive Indian citizens – mostly pilgrims – at Qom in the Persian Gulf nations. “#Embassy in cooperation with #health authorities in #Qom set up a wellness facility to take care of & undertake 24/7 supervision of infected #Indian #pilgrims,” tweeted the Embassy of India in Tehran. “The hygienic facility, surrounded by greenery, has ample space for the pilgrims to walk around. 2 full-time and 8 part-time #Indian #student #volunteers are helping out dedicated #Iranian medical personnel in the effort.”

The Embassy of India in Tehran has also made arrangements for providing meals to the pilgrims accommodated in the wellness centre.