Coronavirus: India seeks China's consent for operating two flights to bring Indians from Hubei

MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet that the Indian embassy in Beijing is in touch with Chinese authorities on the ground to work out necessary logistics.

"We will share regular updates," he said.

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in China said in a series of tweets that it is working hard to ensure smooth evacuation of Indian citizens from the corona virus-hit Hubei Province.

"We are already in touch with many sections of Indian Community in Hubei, including our students and urge all Indian citizens from Hubei who have not yet contacted the Embassy to do so urgently on our hotlines (+8618610952903, +8618612083629, +8618612083617) or dedicated email ID helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in ", the embassy said in a tweet.

Major countries, including India, are planning to send aircraft to evacuate their nationals from Wuhan where more than 100 people have died and thousands infected after outbreak of the deadly Corona virus.

Indians and other foreigners are unable to leave the city after the Chinese government sealed off several cities, effectively trapping tens of millions of people, in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

"Our Embassy is in contact with the Chinese government. We are trying to evacuate people, most of whom are students, from Wuhan city by sending a plane. Efforts are on. I can assure you that the Government of India is working on it and very soon some solution will be found," External Affairs minister S Jaishankar had said on Tuesday.

The total number of confirmed Corona virus cases in China has reached 5,974 and the death toll from the new virus strain has gone up to 132, China's National Health Commission has said.

The unknown type of viral pneumonia was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December.
On Monday, the World Health Organization changed the global risk degree of the deadly Novel corona virus from "moderate" to "high."