Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan taking into consideration the grave situation in Wuhan, China urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to arrange to airlift the Indians stranded in Wuhan province of China.
Vijayan in a letter to the Prime Minister wrote that the situation in Wuhan, China was grave and it would be appropriate to operate a special flight to Wuhan or a nearby functional airport and airlift Indian nationals stranded there.
He also urged the Prime Minister to give necessary instructions to the Indian Embassy in China to act pro-actively and provide necessary assistance and reassurance to Indians including Keralites stranded in Wuhan and Yichang.
Pinarayi Vijayan also offered assistance to medical professionals from Kerala if the centre plans evacuation of the Indians from Wuhan.
The spread of Coronavirus in China has been very rapid as the authorities have announced the death toll due to the virus to have reached 80 and 2,744 confirmed cases.
The Coronavirus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Like SARS, it can be passed among people through the respiratory tract.
The symptoms of infection include fever, cough and breathing problems.
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced his plans to visit China to assess the situation over the novel Coronavirus outbreak which is rapidly spreading across the globe.