A total of 218 Indians, including 211 students, stranded in coronavirus-hit Italy arrived in India on Sunday, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said.
He said all of them will be quarantined for 14 days.
“218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi. All will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI (Government of India) is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are,” Muraleedharan tweeted.
“Appreciate Govt. of Italy for their support and team @IndiainItaly @cgmilan1 @airindiain @DrSJaishankar,” he added.
The flight landed around 9.45 am at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi, an airport official said.
“Air India always spreads its wings to stand by the nation in its hour of need,” an airline spokesperson said soon after the flight from Milan landed in New Delhi.
The coronavirus outbreak, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday, has led to more than 5,000 deaths globally.
The government has suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus as cases across India rose to more than 90.
The government has been carrying out evacuation of Indians from countries, including Iran and Italy. More than 230 Indians were brought back from Iran and they reached New Delhi at about 3.15 am. They were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer. This is the third batch to be evacuated from Iran.
They had arrived in Delhi on a Mahan Air flight from Tehran and were ferried by two Air India flights to Jaisalmer, IGI airport officials said.
Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back Indians stranded there. Over 700 people have died from the disease in Iran and nearly 14,000 cases have been detected.