A defense spokesperson on Tuesday said India has sent three naval ships to evacuate its citizens stranded in the Maldives and UAE due to the coronavirus pandemic reports India Today.

INS Jalashwa deployed off Mumbai coast, along with INS Magar were diverted for Maldives on Monday night. And INS Shardul was diverted to Dubai to evacuate the expatriates, the defence spokesperson said.

The three ships will return to Kochi. INS Magar and INS Shardul are Southern Naval Command ships, while INS Jalashwa is from Eastern Naval Command. According to an estimate, the number of Indian nationals stranded abroad could be in lakhs.

The government had on Monday said process to bring back Indians stranded abroad due the coronavirus pandemic will begin from May 7 in a phased manner. The Home Ministry said on Monday that it will be a paid service. In a statement, it said only people showing no symptoms of Covid-19 will be allowed to travel. Once they arrive in India, their medical examination will be conducted and they will be subsequently put under quarantine for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional facility.

Their travel would be arranged by the government by aircraft and naval ships. "The government of India will be facilitating the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds in a phased manner. The travel would begin from May 7," the government had said.

The coronavirus-related death toll in India, meanwhile, climbed to 1,389 while the total number of cases reached 42,836 on Monday. Monday saw an increase of 83 deaths and over of 2,500 cases, the Union Health Ministry said.

The number of active coronavirus cases stood at 29,685, while 11,761 people have recovered. The highest number of confirmed cases in India continue to be from Maharashtra, followed by Gujarat, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of fatalities at 548.

Source: India Today