New Delhi: In all 117 of the 1191 Indians rescued from Sudan under ‘Operation Kaveri’ were quarantined because they were not vaccinated against Yellow Fever, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs under ‘Operation Kaveri’, stated here today.
All passengers will be released after 7 days if they remain asymptomatic, it said, adding that necessary quarantine facilities were being arranged at transit junctures in mission mode for incoming passengers. The Government of India is evacuating about 3,000 passengers of Indian Origin from Sudan where an intense fighting between two militia leaders killed hundreds and disrupted lives, and which was launched on Monday, April 24, 2023. Under the operation, India also evacuated a French embassy staffer and her family from Sudan’s capital Khartoum.
The quarantined passengers were provided rent-free accommodation with free food facilities in quarantine centres managed by Airport Health Officers (APHO)s, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at various hospitals across states holding a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as well as central government hospitals in Delhi such as Safdarjung Hospital. Arrangements have also been made at RHTC, Najafgarh (100 beds); NITR, Mehrauli (40 beds) and Lady Hardinge Medical College (60 beds).
Offering details on the passengers, the Ministry stated that the first batch of passengers arrived in Delhi with 360 passengers, none of whom required quarantine followed by the second flight which arrived in Mumbai with 240 passengers on 26 April of which 14 were quarantined. Two were released after the validation of their vaccination certificates. The remaining 12 were to complete their quarantine period by today evening (as they were in transit for 4 days at Jeddah), the Ministry stated.
The third flight arrived in Bengaluru afternoon yesterday with 360 passengers of which 47 passengers were initially quarantined. 3 were released today after verification of vaccination. The verification of five more passengers is in process. The fourth flight containing passengers arrived in Delhi yesterday evening with 231 passengers of which 61 were quarantined (one was later released). 35 passengers are at Delhi APHO and 26 passengers are at Safdarjung Hospital. The fifth flight is expected to arrive in Delhi tonight with 367 passengers and an additional flight with 320 passengers is expected to arrive tomorrow morning at 10:30 am in Bengaluru.
The number of those quarantined will be dynamic as it is dependent on the verification status of passengers’ passport number(s), the Ministry said. ‘Operation Kaveri’ is a rescue operation launched by the Government of India to evacuate Indian citizens who are stranded in Sudan. It was launched on April 24, 2023, in response to the crisis in Sudan. A team of officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian embassy in Sudan has been appointed to ensure the proper process of evacuation gets followed. During the evacuation, Indians will be transferred to the capital city of Khartoum from where they will be flown back to India.
– global bihari bureau
