255 Indians Infected With Coronavirus In Iran, 12 In UAE: Government

At least 276 Indians have been infected with coronavirus abroad, including 255 in Iran, 12 in UAE and five in Italy, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of External Affairs said the total number of Indians infected by coronavirus overseas is 276 - 255 in Iran, 12 in UAE, five in Italy, and one each in Hong Kong, Kuwait, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

"The Indian Embassies in the respective countries are in touch with such Indian citizens regarding appropriate medical attention in cooperation with local authorities," he said.

NDTV had reported on Tuesday that the Indians in Iran were part of a delegation of over 800 from Kargil in Ladakh, who have been stuck in Iran since February. Most of them are stranded in hotels and other accommodation in Qom, one of the areas in Iran worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

A fourth batch of 53 Indians returned to India from Iran on Monday, taking the total number of people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit country to 389.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working to bring back Indians stranded there. Over 700 people have died from the disease in Iran and nearly 14,000 cases detected.

Coronavirus has infected nearly 2 lakh people worldwide and nearly 150 in India, where three people have died.

The government has already taken measures including suspending most visas into the country. On Monday it expanded travel restrictions, banning passengers from countries of the European Union and European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the United Kingdom - including its own citizens.

It has also closed down schools, cinemas, malls, gyms and major tourist sites including the Taj Mahal, while most major cities asked offices providing non-essential services to keep their staff at home in increased measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

While the government has maintained it is prepared to minimise the fallout, there have been concerns that the over-stretched health systems in India could struggle to handle a surge in case especially because of its low testing capacity.

Authorities said it was trying to ramp up testing facilities from 500 per day to 8,000 and framing protocols to rope in private players.