As the process of bringing back Indian nationals stranded abroad began on Thursday, 7 May, Indian authorities readied quarantine facilities and protocols to be followed ahead of their arrival.
INS Jalashwa entered Male port in Maldives on Thursday morning for evacuating Indian nationals as part of Samudra Setu programme.
The Indian Naval ship will leave for Kochi on Friday, carrying nearly 1,000 stranded Indian nationals in Maldives due to lockdown imposed to contain the deadly coronavirus.
A total 14 ships have been kept ready to bring stranded citizens from Gulf countries and out of it, two sailed on 5 May early morning. Further, INS Shardul attached to Southern Naval Command has also been engaged and it is to bring stranded citizens for Dubai.
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Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express will start the first phase of the mission and operate 64 flights in seven days to bring back 14,800 Indians from 12 countries.
The two airlines at different time slots will operate the first ‘special ferry’ flights from New Delhi, Cochin and Kozhikode to Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively.
These flights under India's massive 'Vande Bharat Mission' are being organised to bring back stranded Indians from abroad.
Normal Exit Channels to be Used at IGI Airport for Vande Bharat Mission Evacuees
The first batch of evacuees coming to Delhi's IGI Airport under India's massive Vande Bharat Mission will use normal exit channels, while maintaining all prescribed safety norms.
The first flight to Delhi will arrive on Friday at around 11:30 am from Singapore. As first reported by IANS, the flight will take-off from the IGI Airport at around 11.15 pm on Thursday night.
As per initial plans, passengers will lighten the aircraft at a remote aircraft parking bay area, where they will be subjected to medical screening. Subsequently, they will then be transported to the terminal building in a well spaced out and defined pathway, which adheres to the social distancing norms.
After entry into the building, queue managers and airport staff will guide the passengers on well defined pathways to immigration counters.
Notably, the entire process has been designed with the least possible wait time and touch points for the passengers. Besides, the plan details that baggage can be claimed from a designated conveyor belt which will be operational.
Finally, passengers will be handed over to their state governments who have already arranged for their transport and quarantine facilities.
Delhi Readies 1,200 Rooms to Quarantine Returnees
The Delhi government has arranged as many as 1,200 hotel rooms to quarantine the travellers for 14 days, as per the protocol.
The rooms would be paid quarantine facilities, Delhi's nodal official for the operation told IANS, on Thursday. As many as 850 rooms were in the luxury hotels, like Svelte, Le Meridien, Red Fox and ibis, in Aerocity and other parts of the city, the official added.
The Centre, the official said, was yet to reveal the number of passengers staying in Delhi, "but we are making sufficient arrangements".
Arrangements Done to Receive Two Aircrafts Carrying Kerala Diaspora
Two aircraft from West Asia will arrive on Thursday night at two Kerala airports carrying around 360 passengers from Abu Dhabi and Dubai. All arrangements have been made by the state government keeping in view the COVID-19 situation.
The flight from Abu Dhabi to Kochi is expected to arrive at 9:40 pm and is likely to have around 171 passengers, and the one to Kozhikode will be from Dubai and will have 189 passengers.
All those who arrive at the Kerala airports will be asked to pass through a special aerobridge from where they will be tested by health officials.
The general guideline is all pregnant women and children will be sent to their homes for two-week quarantine, while those with underlying health issues would be sent to hospitals.
The entire luggage would be disinfected.
It has also been decided to send all people who are from outside the Ernakulam and Malappuram district to their respective corona care centres at their home districts.
(With inputs from IANS.)
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