Coronavirus Outbreak: Death Toll In China Reaches 258; Air India Flight With 324 Indians Takes Off From Wuhan For Delhi

Amid the fear of transmission, as many as 324 Indian nationals were evacuated from China on Friday.

The death toll in China from the deadly virus had reached 258 on Saturday.

New Delhi: The death toll in China from the deadly virus had reached 258 on Saturday. 1,347 new cases have also been confirmed, China Daily reported. The virus originated in China's Wuhan city in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world. Meanwhile, amid the fear of transmission, as many as 324 Indian nationals were evacuated from China. National carrier Air India's special flight operated to the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, to evacuate Indians stranded there, landed at the IGI airport in New Delhi on Saturday. Accordingly, the flight ferried back 324 Indian nationals. The airline said that the special flight landed at Delhi airport at 7.26 a.m. Air India started evacuation of Indians from Wuhan with the first special flight which was operated using a double decker jumbo 747 with 15 cabin crew and five cockpit crew. On Friday evening, the Air India spokesperson had stated that another special flight may take off from Delhi airport on Saturday to evacuate Indians from Wuhan. Before departure at Delhi airport on Friday morning, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani had said, "No service will take place in the plane. Whatever food is there will be kept in seat pockets. As there will be no service, there will be no interaction (between cabin crew and passengers)." "Masks have been arranged for the crew and passengers. For our crew, we have also arranged a complete protective gear," he had added. Meanwhile, as the neighbouring country continued to deal with the outbreak of novel coronavirus, China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, fearing that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year. Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China. (with inputs from agencies)