Coronavirus: 200 Indian evacuees from Maldives arrive in Tamil Nadu

 The passengers were screened by the Port Health officials and their luggage was sanitised as part of COVID-19 health protocols upon their arrival  

Tuticorin: As many as 200 stranded Indian nationals were repatriated by the Indian Navy from Maldives as part of the Samudra Setu mission of the Government of India.

Indian Navy Ship Airavat arrived from Maldives with 200 Indian nationals at the VOC Port this morning, officials said.

As many as 64 people who arrived today hailed from Kanyakumari district while the rest were from many other districts, they said.

Upon arrival, the passengers were screened by the Port Health officials and their luggage was sanitised as part of COVID-19 health protocols.

On issue of PPE kits by the Port authorities to all passengers, the latter boarded waiting buses and transited to the passenger terminal.

Later, before proceeding to their respective destinations in designated buses, self-declaration forms were obtained from the passengers and they were also asked to download and configure 'Aarogya Setu' app on their smartphones.

The Indian Navy had earlier repatriated over 3,000 stranded Indians from Sri Lanka and Maldives while making earlier port calls.