Indian journalist Sidhant Sibal tweeted that a number of Indians pilgrims from Union territory of Ladakh in the central city of Qom in Iran have been confirmed with Coronavirus.
“Indian mission in Iran & local authorities are reaching out to them,” she wrote in her tweet.
Another Indian journalist Aditya Raj Kaul tweeted:
In response to these reports by the Indian media, Indian External Affairs Ministry officials on Tuesday said they cannot confirm whether more than 250 Indians in Iran have tested positive for coronavirus but acknowledged that they were aware of such a list of people being circulated.
MEA Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi was asked several times about Indians in Iran testing positive.
“Of course in a situation like that, you will find some positive cases among the Indian pilgrims given the extensive spread of virus in Iran,” Ravi told the media.
“Rest assured that every care is being taken by mission in cooperating and coordinating with the government of Iran for safety of Indians there. The ambassador is giving a lot of attention to them,” he said.
“Cannot confirm that over 250 Indians in Iran have tested positive for coronavirus and whether the list that is being circulated is authentic or not ,” he said in response to a question about media reports claiming that more than 250 Indians in Iran have tested positive for the virus.
He, however, said that it was not possible that all the tests of the Indian pilgrims would have come out negative as they were located in Qom.
Video of MEA briefing:
According to Bloomberg, India could become the next global hotspot for virus cases, with experts warning containment measures that proved successful elsewhere in Asia may not work in the world’s second-most populous country.
