SHARP DROP IN INBOUND INDIANS FROM ABROAD
There has been a 40% decline in the last 20 days, as per official data.
There has been a sharp 40% decline in the number of Indians outside coming back to the country in the last 20 days due to COVID-19 virus scare which has shaken the entire world.
According to Anil Malik, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, saidthe number of Indians coming back to the country as on 20 February was 63,200 and now this number has come down to 43,900 as on 10 March. This number is expected to come down further in the wake of the government’s advisory which says that all those Indians, outside the country, should stay put wherever they are. Malik is part of the high level core team of government officials which is monitoring the situation arising out of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The government has advised all Indians to stay put wherever they are. “Our advice to them (the Indians) is that if they can manage to stay put, it is the best, and if they are not able to, then we will look at the way as to how we can bring them. We are going by how the Ambassadors are advising us, which places to visit, and so on,” said Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Ravi, who has been appointed as the nodal officer to coordinate efforts to deal with the outbreak, said only compelling reasons should be there if anyone wants to come. He also made it clear that an evacuation does not mean brining back everybody and people who test negative for the infection will be brought back first.
“We are advising them to stay put because one never knows if you are carrying the symptoms of it because it might become prominent after a number of days. You should travel only if you have compelling reasons. We also request you to take the COVID test at the local level so that it would be easier for the airport authorities to let them in,” he said.
The officials said that if an
Indian, upon arrival to India, is found to be COVID positive, s/he will be quarantined. However, in case of a foreigner, s/he will be returned. The government has already restricted the entry of foreigners by suspending “all existing visa, except diplomatic, official, UN/ international organizations, employment, project visas”, until 15 April in order to rein in the spread of COVID-19, with effect from 12 am GMT, 13 March. The visa-free travel facility for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders has also been suspended till the same date. Sources said most of the Indians coming back are students studying overseas and those on short trips abroad.
The COVID-19 outbreak, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has led to more than 4,000 deaths globally. The outbreak has reached as many as 114 countries. In India, till Saturday morning, 83 confirmed cases of COVID-19 cases have been detected, of which two persons have died.