Amid the coronavirus scare globally, several Indians have been stranded in different parts of the world.
"Where will we go if not home?" asked a group of Indians who were stranded at the Milan International Airport in Italy in a video.
According to the The News Minute, around 300 passengers, most of them Malayalies, had arrived at the airport to board a flight to Kochi. However, the airport authorities told them that they cannot board the flight.
In the video a woman can be seen saying, "Whe should the NRIs go? Just an hour before the check-in we were told that the Indian gorvenment is not allowing us to board the flight."
They also said that they do not have an issue in staying quartined for 14 or 28 days and that there was a pregnant woman in the group.
A stranded passenger and a native of Malappuram told TNM that the airport officials have asked us to produce a certificate which is not easy to get . He also said that the proceduee will require them to visit coronavirus infected area in order to prove that they have tested negative. "The hospitals are overloaded with coronavirus patients and they would not test those who came without the symptons," he said.
Earlier, the government had suspended visas from several other states -- Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan and China amid intensifying coronavirus tensions. While diplomats and other officials are exempted from the same, they will have to undergo medical screening. Alongside, passengers arriving from several COVID-19 affected countries must undergo screening upon arrival.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi and urged him to withdraw the circular so that the stranded Indians can come home.
"While there is no difference of opinion that safeguards should be take so as to the virus does not spread, the hardship to Indians abroad wanting to come back home during the time of crisis is unwarranted. They can be tested on arrival and kept on quarantine if necessary," he wrote in the letter.
With eight more people testing postive for coronavirus in Kerala on Tuesday, the total number of infected people now under treatment touched 14, as the state government decided to impose severe restrictions, including closure of educational institutions and cinema houses till month end to halt its further spread.
Earlier, after a married couple, who had returned to Pune from Dubai on March 1, tested positive on Monday evening, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Maharashtra has mounted to five. These include their daughter and two others who had come in contact with them; they have also tested positive.
Till date, a total of 1,29,448 passengers who have disembarked from 1,101 aircraft have been screened at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports.
Moreover, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a tweet said that a coronavirus task force set up by the AAP government in Delhi is following up on 1.4 lakh flyers in for symptoms. So far, 337 people have been quarantined in the capital as teams rush to track potential Covid-19 carriers.
So far 56 people have been infected with coronavirus in India and 119,120 cases globally.
