Operation Kaveri: As many 117 Indians who have been evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan under ‘Operation Kaveri’ have been quarantined upon their arrival in India because they were not vaccinated against Yellow Fever. All passengers will be released after seven days if they remain asymptomatic.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, necessary quarantine facilities are being arranged at transit junctures in mission mode for incoming passengers.
''A total of 1,191 passengers have arrived so far, of which 117 passengers are currently quarantined because they were not vaccinated against yellow fever. All passengers will be released after seven days if they remain asymptomatic,'' it said.
Passengers are provided rent-free accommodation
The ministry said that these passengers are provided rent-free accommodation with free food facility in quarantine centers managed by Airport Health Officers (APHO)s, and 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).
"The first batch of passengers arrived in Delhi with 360 passengers, none of whom required quarantine followed by second flight which arrived in Mumbai with 240 passengers on April 26 of which 14 were quarantined. Two were released after validation of their vaccination certificates. The remaining 12 will complete their quarantine period till today evening (as they were in transit for 4 days at Jeddah). 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 ministry said.
Verification of five passengers in process
The verification of five more passengers is in process. The fourth flight containing passengers arrived in Delhi on Friday 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," it said.
The numbers of those quarantined will be dynamic as it is dependent on verification status of passengers’ passport number(s).
Operation Kaveri
'Operation Kaveri' is a rescue operation launched by Government of India to evacuate Indian citizens who are stranded in Sudan. It was launched on April 24 in response to the crisis in Sudan. A team of officials including the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian embassy in Sudan has been appointed by the Indians to ensure the proper process of evacuation gets followed. During the evacuation, Indians will be transferred from Sudan to the capital city of Khartoum where they will be flown back to India.
Also Read: Operation Kaveri: IndiGo to operate chartered flights to evacuate Indians from Sudan
