COVID-19: Special evacuation flights for Indians stuck in US to operate this week
Washington: Special evacuation flights for Indians stranded in the US due to the global travel restrictions put in place to contain the coronavirus pandemic are most likely to begin from San Francisco this week, according to officials.
While no exact dates have been announced yet, the flights could take off from San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Washington DC, the officials said.
Given that a large number of Indian students and visitors are stranded in the US because of the strict travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, more flights are likely to be scheduled in the coming weeks.
Community leaders have welcomed the move of the Indian government which on Monday announced that special flights facilitating the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds would begin in a phased manner from May 7.
The Indian embassy and its consulates in the US last week started preparing a list of Indians planning to travel back home. The list is being prepared through an online registration form.
This is for the first time in my memory that such an evacuation effort is being carried out by the Indian government for its citizens in the US, Jaipur Foot USA Chairman Prem Bhandari said as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the efforts.
Bhandari, who had been receiving calls from various stranded Indians, sometimes from students seeking accommodation, or visitors who had run out of medicine, last week wrote a letter to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, bringing to their attention the grave situation.
In the letter, he said: There are a large number of students who have run out of money. They don't have a place to stay. What is more worrisome is the fact that this uncertainty is having a toll on their mental and physical health .
A large number of Indian visitors, in particular senior citizens and parents of those working in the US, have run out of their essential medicines.
To get them medicine, even with a traveler's health insurance, is often not affordable. The evacuation flight is the need of the hour. This shows how much this government cares for its citizens, Bhandari said.
Over the past few weeks, several Indians have been reaching out to Indian Ambassador in the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and the helpline established by it seeking an early repatriation back home.
Please start some flights for Indian citizens on humanitarian grounds. We have critically ill senior citizen parents who are alone and have to be looked after. Please understand our plight and bring this to the notice of the Indian government, one of them tweeted last week.
Please look after students those who are under 22 years, they are alone in Penn State college want to come back Home please arrange airlift and give priorities to students and old people, one student Asha Tiwari wrote on Twitter.
Some Indian origin people having Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards have also sought help in travelling back to India.
Please also take care of OCIs as well. I am a resident of India and working in India. My family is in India too. I visited US for a month and got stuck here, wrote Kranthi Borra.
In a separate letter last week, Bhandari requested Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to waive off the visa extension fee of USD 455 given the exceptional circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The visa extension fee of USD 455 (including biometric service fee of USD 85) imposed by the US Department of State is further hitting these visitors real hard. As the Government of India is working tirelessly on expeditious repatriation of its citizens, I sincerely urge you to reconsider the visa extension fee and waive these charges on humanitarian grounds and as a gesture of compassion, he said.
The Indian government in a statement said that medical screening of passengers would be done before the flight.
Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel, it said. During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow the protocols, such as the Health Protocols, issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
On reaching the destination, everyone would have to register on the Arogya Setu app, the official statement said.
Everyone would be medically screened. After scrutiny, they would be quarantined for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, by the concerned state governments.
COVID-19 test would be done after 14 days and further action would be taken according to health protocols, it said.
The Ministries of External Affairs and Civil Aviation would soon share detailed information.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected over 1.2 million people and killed nearly 70,000 in the US, the worst affected country in the world.
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Lara Dutta stranded in Dubai as Middle East unrest escalates, urges better sense to prevail
Mumbai (PTI): Bollywood actor Lara Dutta Bhupathi, who is currently in Dubai with her daughter and former tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, on Wednesday said she is feeling “nervous” and “stressed out” due to the ongoing conflict and is hoping to return to Mumbai.
The actor said she had travelled to Dubai , which has been like a home to her for the past three years, for a brand-related commitment when the Israel-Iran war began. She recalled hearing explosions and seeing missiles being intercepted while she was at a studio.
“I can’t lie (been) stressful days. We are nervous and it’s been scary. Lots of fighter jets flying overhead, lots of loud booms. Though we live in a villa in a very safe neighbourhood, the windows shake, the house and the doors rattle, and it's unnerving. But I haven't felt unsafe, not even once,” the actor said in a video clip, admitting that the nervous energy compelled her to make it.
ALSO READ: Flight services between Kolkata, Dubai resume partially
Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply after the United States and Israel launched a coordinated offensive against Iran on February 28. Tehran responded by firing drones and missiles at Israel, US military installations across the Gulf region, and the global business hub of Dubai.
She praised the UAE government and said they’ve doing an “incredible” job and they are being “looked after” and “protected” regardless of the nationality.
“…We feel like we count, we matter. The UAE government as somebody living in this city, is making sure they do everything in their power to protect us and keep us safe,” Dutta said.
The actor expressed her admiration for the workforce from her gardener to delivery riders, and said she has immense respect for the everyday heroes who keep the country running.
She said they are looking at flights back to India, and but they are not available.
“We are trying to get back to Mumbai, more so because the kids are lot more nervous, we are as well as grown-ups. We are trying to get out,” an emotional Dutta said.
“I was in India, obviously, when India and Pakistan went to war, and we saw how well our country protected us then. And it's the same here. No one, no civilian, deserves to live in fear or be caught up in a war that is destabilising an entire region,” she said.
Dutta said she is hoping that the “common sense and better judgement would prevail”.
Friends and colleagues from the film industry commented on Dutta’s post.
“I'm glad you're safe, Lara, and credit where credit is due to the UAE govt,” actor Richa Chadha said.
Actor Sudhanshu Pandey said, “Lara my dearest, you hang in there, all will be well. Stay together stay strong, this will be over soon.”
Earlier, actors Esha Gupta, Sonal Chauhan were stranded in UAE and have safely returned to India.
