119 Indians, 5 foreigners from coronavirus-hit Japan ship land in Delhi

The Government has said that a special Air India flight arrived in New Delhi on Thursday, bringing back 119 Indians and five foreign nationals, who were stranded onboard a coronavirus-hit cruise ship, Diamond Princess, off Yokohama port in Japan.

According to a statement issued by the foreign ministry, apart from the 113 crew members and six passengers of India, two Sri Lankans, and one national each of Nepal, South Africa and Peru were evacuated.

They will be kept under quarantine at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility in Manesar near Gurgaon.

The foreigners were evacuated "in line with India's neighbourhood first policy and Indo-Pacific vision", the government said.

Among five foreign nationals two Sri Lankans, and one national each of Nepal, South Africa and Peru were evacuated.

As many as 138 Indians including 132 crew and six passengers were among the 3,711 people on board the luxury cruise ship, which was quarantined off Japan on February 5 after it emerged that a former passenger had tested positive for the virus. 

Of these, 16 were tested positive for coronavirus and will stay in Japan for treatment, while the remaining will be repatriated to India.

The repatriation is being facilitated by the Indian government.

According to the latest official data, over 81,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide. More than 30,000 people have been cured of the disease, with over 2,600 of those having been cleared in the last 24 hours.

(With inputs from ANI)