Final batch of Wuhan evacuees discharged from ITBP facility
CORONAVIRUS The staff at the Chhawla facility is now preparing to house a fresh batch of 125 Indians to be airlifted by Friday
NEW DELHI: The last batch of inmates who were quarantined at the Indo-tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility at Chhawla in Delhi after they were evacuated from Wuhan in China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, were discharged on Wednesday.
An ITBP spokesperson said that the evacuees were being discharged in batches since February 17 and the last batch, a family of six, were discharged on Wednesday morning.
A total of 645 people were evacuated from Wuhan on February 1 and 2, and were housed at two quarantine facilities created by an Indian Army-run camp in Manesar, Haryana, and ITBPRUN Chhawla camp.
The development has come even as the staff at the ITBP facility is preparing to house another set of evacuees that India plans to air-lift from Wuhan. The fresh batch, of 125 Indians, is expected to land in India by Friday.
As part of the preparations, the staff has started disinfecting and fumigating the premises.
On Wednesday, health secretary Preeti Sudan met Chinese ambassador to India urging him to look into the reports of Chinese universities asking students, among the first set of evacuees, to join their classes or forfeit their admissions. “This request has been responded to favourably…,” a Union health ministry statement said.
Meanwhile, the government has banned the export of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIS), raw materials used in making drugs, amid rising fears of India facing a drug shortage in the future.
A government committee, formed to monitor the supply of raw materials for drugs from China, has recommended restrictions on exports of 12 APIS and formulations.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals had formed a committee under the chairmanship of joint
drug controller, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, which has been monitoring the supply of APIS and intermediates which are imported from China and the effect of the epidemic on their supply to India.
“There is absolutely nothing to worry about at the moment, as we have stocks for at least next threefour months. The government has assessed the situation and India is pretty comfortable as far as drugs are concerned,” said an official at CDSCO.
ONE MORE INDIAN ON SHIP TESTS POSITIVE
One more Indian aboard a quarantined cruise ship off Japan tested positive for the virus, Indian Embassy officials said.
In a tweet, the Indian Embassy here said, “1 Indian crew who tested positive for COVID19 among 88 new cases on Diamond Princess shifted to hospital for treatment.”
MUMBAI: The ~13,141-crore coastal road project in Mumbai is likely to be hit by the coronavirus outbreak in China as tunnelling for the 9.8-km link is dependent on equipment and manpower from the country.
The tunnelling work was scheduled to start tentatively from May, after the arrival of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) from Shanghai in April.
However, 25 experts from China, who were to deliver and assemble the TBM in Mumbai, are not getting visas owing to the outbreak.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is implementing the project, is now in touch with the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to work out a solution.
A senior BMC official said, “So far, there is no issue in importing the TBM. Though the more the delivery date gets delayed, there could be logistics issues in China. The problem we are facing is that the members of the manufacturing company — all Chinese nationals — were to come to Mumbai to assemble the machine and explain its usage to the contractor here. They are not getting visas.”
The official said the assembling of the TBM and handover would take up to two months, until which the actual tunnelling work cannot start.
Jayashree Bhoj, additional municipal commissioner, BMC, said, “The TBM is coming from Shanghai, which is around 1,600km away from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. We are working towards a solution and are in touch with several authorities informally. We will formally approach the agencies, in case we do not reach a solution in the next few days.”
The coastal road project’s completion has been postponed to mid-2023 and may now get delayed further.
THE 25 EXPERTS FROM CHINA, WHO WERE TO DELIVER AND ASSEMBLE THE TUNNEL BORING MACHINE, ARE NOT GETTING VISAS OWING TO THE OUTBREAK.