255 Indians tested positive for coronavirus in Iran

A special flight operated by Iran’s Mahan Air brought back 201 Indians on Wednesday, a majority of them pilgrims and students from Kashmir and Ladakh.

The government on Wednesday acknowledged that 255 Indians had been infected by the Coronavirus in Iran even as a flight from Tehran brought back 201 people, most of them pilgrims and students.

As many as 255 Indians had been infected by the Coronavirus in Iran.

A list of more than 250 Indians, most of them Shia pilgrims from Kargil and Leh, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Iran was widely circulated in Kashmir since Sunday, but authorities had initially said there were “some cases” of infections given the widespread prevalence of the virus in that country.

In a written reply to a question on COVID-19-related issues in Lok Sabha, minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan said a total of 255 Indian citizens had been infected by the Coronavirusin Iran.

Giving details of infected Indian citizens abroad, he said one case each had been reported from Hong Kong, Kuwait, Rwanda and Sri Lanka, five cases from Italy, and 12 from the United Arab Emirates.

A special flight operated by Iran’s Mahan Air brought back 201 Indians on Wednesday, a majority of them pilgrims and students from Kashmir and Ladakh. People familiar with developments said Mahan Air was expected to operate another evacuation flight on Saturday.

The people cited above, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said arrangements were being made to treat those who had tested positive in Tehran and the holy city of Qom, where more than 170 infected people had been detected so far.

They acknowledged problems being faced in Iran, especially Qom, where medical facilities were struggling with a large number of patients.

There were also reports of more Indians in Iran, including students and factory workers, facing problems in getting tested or evacuated from the country that has reported nearly 15,000 infections and more than 850 deaths.

A group of 32 Kashmiri students at Kish Island, enrolled at Tehran Medical University, said they had received no response from the Indian embassy to repeated pleas to be evacuated. Their problems have been compounded as their funds are almost exhausted.

So far, all the students are in good health, members of the group said. They said there had been 21 infections and three deaths in the island, where people have gone into quarantine and all the markets have been closed.

“We are living a painful life away from our families and we are looking at very bad things happening around us,” said Husaib Shah, a second year medical student and resident of Baramulla town in north Kashmir.

“The government in Kish Island has reported 21 cases and three deaths, which is the highest in this province, given the population of the island. The most worrying part is that there is only one hospital. On Monday, the Indian embassy asked us to come to Tehran, from where they will be able to evacuate us but there are no flights from Kish to Tehran and this is a very big problem,” he said.

Abrar ul Ahad Rather, another second year medical student, said: “There are specific timings for the opening of markets and only for buying essentials.”

Another student blamed the Indian embassy for doing nothing for them. “Are we not Indians? The students are getting depressed and our families back home are in a lot of stress,” he said, asking not to be named. “We don’t dare call our parents as we don’t want to get them perturbed.”

Another student named Aqib Rashid said, “Our university was closed on February 20 after some positive cases were found. Lunch is provided to us by the university to us, and for dinner, we buy food one week in advance.”

Shah said the lack of international banking facilities in Iran was also a problem. “We had to bring money for the entire year. But we are facing problems in buying daily necessities as everyone in Kish accepts only ATM cards and the money we had in our cards has been exhausted. Due to the closure of banks, nothing can be done.

Nitesh Singh, a resident of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh who works at the Kavir Steel Cooperative Company at Kashan Road in Ardestan, said some 60 Indians working at the plant were yet to be tested or helped with evacuation.

“We are from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar and we are worried as there as reports of the virus spreading in the area around the factory. We want to go back home and we don’t know what to do,” he told HT on a WhatsAPP call.

“The factory is located about 300 km from Tehran and there are no buses or cars available. Besides, the passports of all the Indians are with our employer,” he said. “We are very worried as many of us are living in one room.”