Initially, we did not take coronavirus outbreak seriously: Students

Two students from Gujarat, who have returned to India from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, on Wednesday said initially they did not take reports about the outbreak seriously.

Shreya Jaiman (18) and Vrund Patel (19), both classmates, were among the hundreds of Indians who were airlifted from Wuhan last month after the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China.

On return from China, they were quarantined for nearly 17 days at a facility at an ITBP camp in Delhi from where they have now come back to their homes in Vadodara.

Jaiman and Patel were studying in a medical universityin Wuhan, the capital of central Chinas Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Talking to PTI tonight, Jaiman and Patel described their experience in the coronavirus-hit Wuhan city in days leading to their departure.

The two students said initially they took lightly reports about surfacing of the deadly virus in the Chinese city.

The duo said they realised the gravity of the situation only in mid-January, days after the first case of the virus was reported in December-end.

They thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for evacuating them from Wuhan and reuniting with their family members, who were worried about their wellbeing after outbreak of the deadly disease, which has killed more than 2,000 people in China till now.

The students said their university has extended the winter vacation.

"The Wuhan city went into lockdown on January 23. All students were restricted to their rooms and homes. It was difficult for even Indian embassy officials to come there," they said.

They somehow managed to communicate with their families, Jaiman and Patel said.

The family members of both the students were happy to seen them come back home.