(Image source from: news.abplive.com)

The government of India is said to be sending a C-17 military aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to Wuhan which is the epicentre of the deadly COVID-19. The C-17 military aircraft would be sent for evacuation of more Indians from the Wuhan city of China which is hit by the deadly coronavirus and also to provide medical supplies to the country, as said by the military sources on Tuesday.

The military aircraft C- 17 is said to be leaving for Wuhan on the 20th of the month of February. It has also been said that a large consignment of the medical supplies will be carried by the C- 17 Globemaster which is the biggest military Indian Air Force aircraft, to China and would also bring more Indians from Wuhan which is the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic.

The government of India has announced during the last week that medicines along with other medical supplies would be sent by the Indian government to China.

Two Boeing Air India aircraft have already bee sent to Wuhan city of China on the 1st and 2nd of February which is said to have evacuated a total of 647 Indians and also seven Maldivians. The Indian nationals and also the Maldivians who have been evacuated were kept at two quarantine facilities that have been made in and around Delhi.

All the 248 people who have been quarantined at the Army camp in Manesar along with other batch that consisted of 100 people being quarantined at an Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility have been discharged on Tuesday and it has been said that the remaining people who were housed at the Indo Tibetan Border Police will be released by Wednesday in the morning, as said by the officials.

Sun Weidong who is the Chinese Ambassador has expressed his appreciation to Delhi which is the national capital of India as it has expressed its willingness to extend its help to China for dealing with the epidemic, on Tuesday.

He has said that there has been no case of infection among the Indians who were remaining in the Hubei province which is the epidemic of the pandemic and also that the Indians at the Wuhan city of China are being take good care by the authorities.

There has been steady increase in the number of people getting affected due to the virus and also in the death toll that is being caused due to the deadly coronavirus as it has been recorded by the National Health Commission of China on Tuesday that the death toll that has been caused due to the outbreak has raised to 1,868 on Monday while the total number of cases that have been confirmed as being affected by the coronavirus is said to be climbed to 72,436.

The Chinese Ambassador has said that China has put in place multi- level control and prevention mechanisms in order to win the battle against COVID- 19. it has been said that around RMD 80 billion has been allocated by Beijing to contain the disease and there exists sufficient resources and policy tools by the government in order to cope with the economic fluctuation following the epidemic.

Nirmala Sitharaman who is the Finance Minister of India has said that the Indian government will soon be announcing measures in order to deal with the impact of the outbreak regarding the domestic industry and the exports. She added saying after holding a review meeting with the representatives of several industries that the further steps that would be taken will be announced in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The representatives of several different industries who have been a part of the meeting include the representatives from the pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals electronics and IT hardware, solar auto, surgical equipment, paint, fertilizer, telecom glass, mobile manufacturing, edible oil, shipping and tourism.

By Shrithika Kushangi