COVID-19: UAE to operate special flights to bring back Emiratis from India
Dubai: The UAE government on Monday announced to operate special repatriation flights from four Indian cities to bring back its nationals stuck in the country due to the restrictions on air travel amidst the coronavirus pandemic, media reports said.
Sharjah-headquartered budget carrier Air Arabia will operate the repatriation flights from Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi and Hyderabad, Khaleej Times reported.
While the special flights from Mumbai and Delhi will operate on Monday, those from Cochin and Hyderabad will operate on Tuesday, it said.
"Air Arabia remains committed to bring stranded citizens back home as well as supporting requests to operate repatriation flights and is working closely with UAE authorities in this regard. The airline announced earlier that it's operating a mix of repatriation flights as well as cargo flights during the month of April to multiple destinations," it said in a statement on Monday.
Further information about the repatriation and cargo flights is available on the website or can be obtained by contacting the Air Arabia call centre on 06 5580000, it said.
Last week, the airline announced new passenger repatriation as well as cargo flights to nine countries -- Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, Egypt, India and Nepal -- from Sharjah International Airport.
The Indian government has banned all domestic as well as international air travel until May 3 in view of the coronavirus pandemic which has killed over 160,000 people globally.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases. Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
