Coronavirus COVID-19 situation in Iran remains precarious, India asks citizens to stay put

Reuters photo

New Delhi: India has asked its citizens to stay put in Iran wherever they are as the situation remains precarious in the west Asian country. Iran along with Spain and Italy remains the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, which began in China.

Sources told WION, while the Indian mission is in touch with Indians in Iran since sampling facility is not present in Tehran, swab samples cant be collected to check if they are COVID-19 positive. The samples for COVID-19 will be tested by ICMR in India, and only those Indians who test negative will get to board the specially arranged flights to India. 

A number of Indians stranded in Kish island are affected by the virus but the situation in Tehran is far worse. While Indian government believes that keeping them at a specific location is not a solution but circumstances are completely adverse on the ground.  

As many as 219 Indian students in Iran, primarily from Tehran and Shiraz, have already returned to India. India plans to evacuate another batch of more than 200 Indians on March 28. 

So far, New Delhi has evacuated more than 1700 of its citizens from China, Japan, Iran and Italy since the coronavirus pandemic began. This includes 48 foreign citizens too.