Amid fears over the spread of the coronavirus, around 85 Indian students stranded in the town of Pavia in northern Italy have reached out to the Indian government, seeking swift response to requests for evacuation.
The Lombardy region, in which Pavia is located, has reported 17 coronavirus deaths so far, as per reports.
Students in the University of Pavia have been in a state of panic after non-teaching faculty at the university contracted the virus. Many teaching and non-teaching staff members have been quarantined following the scare.
Some students had booked their flights to India, but due to the increasing number of coronavirus cases being reported from Italy, airlines have partially suspended operations and new tickets are seemingly expensive. The students have since reached out to the Indian government to evacuate them at the earliest.
According to reports, out of the 85 students, 25 are from the state of Telangana, 20 from Karnataka, 15 from Tamil Nadu, four from Kerala, two from Delhi and one each from Rajasthan and cities of Gurgaon and Dehradun.
Italian authorities announced on Sunday that the number of people in Italy infected with the coronavirus rose to 1,576 in just 24 hours. The first cases in the country was reported on February 21 and 34 people have died since.
The coronavirus outbreak has hit museums, sporting events, cinemas and public offices, and authorities have confirmed that the number is expected to go up.
