Media reports on Tuesday claimed that over 250 Indians, who have been stuck in Iran since February, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. However, the Ministry of External Affairs officials said they could not confirm these reports.
"The Indians who are in Iran are being very well looked after by our mission. The ambassador is giving a lot of attention to them. Every care is being taken by the Mission, in coordination and cooperation by the government of Iran," MEA Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi said.
"Cannot confirm that over 250 Indians in Iran have tested positive for coronavirus," he said.
Reports said those who tested positive for COVID 19 were part of a delegation of over 800 people from Ladakh. According to NDTV, most of them are stranded in hotels and other accommodation in Qom.
India had sent a team of doctors to Iran to conduct medical tests on the people stranded there.
Meanwhile, the number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 126 on Tuesday after fresh cases were reported from several states, the Health Ministry said. The cases include 22 foreign nationals and three persons who died in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, a health ministry official said over 52 000 people who had come in contact with the 125 positive cases have been identified through contact tracing and were under vigorous surveillance.