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Maldivians quarantined in India return

Mariyam Malsa
18 February 2020, MVT 18:23
Seven Maldivians evacuated from Wuhan City, China returning to Maldives. PHOTO: MOHAMED AWSHAN ILYAS
Mariyam Malsa
18 February 2020, MVT 18:23

The seven Maldivians evacuated from Wuhan City, China were released from quarantine in New Delhi, India on Tuesday.

The individuals were airlifted from Wuhan, the epicentre of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak on February 2 with assistance from the Indian government.

The Maldivians, along with the 323 Indians that they traveled with were placed in quarantine for a 14-day period following the evacuation.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid and officials from the Indian High Commission in Maldives welcomed the seven individuals at Velana International Airport.

Minister Shahid expressed gratitude to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India's Minister of External Affairs Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar for their roles in arranging the evacuation and their hospitality to the Maldivians during the quarantine period.

The foreign minister previously stated that the Maldivian Embassy in China reported that a total of 69 Maldivians resided in China at the time of the outbreak and subsequent quarantines implemented on several Chinese cities. Although nine Maldivians were in Wuhan, only seven of them requested to be transported to Maldives.

So far, no cases of the virus have been detected in Maldives, although seven individuals who travelled from China were quarantined and tested.

The new strain of coronavirus that originated in Wuhan City in late 2019 has now claimed more than 1,800 lives and infected 73,331 individuals.

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