78 Afghan evacuees released from ITBP quarantine centre in Delhi

After completing 14 days of essential quarantine period at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) centre at Chhawla camp in Delhi, all the 78 evacuees from Afghanistan were allowed to go to their respective places from the facility on Tuesday.

All of them were also given the wellness certificates by the ITBP medical teams.

The group included 53 Afghan nationals (34 men, nine women and 10 children), and 25 Indians (18 men, five women and 12 children).

These 87 evacuees were brought to ITBP's 'quarantine facility' on August 24 soon after they were airlifted from the war-torn country.

ITBP spokesperson Vivek Pandey said that at present, 35 persons (24 Indians and 11 Nepalese) were under quarantine at this centre and will be released once they complete their requisite quarantine period on September 8, 2021.

All facilities such as food and lodging, entertainment, indoor games, wi-fi and canteen were provided to them free of cost. Yoga and stress counselling sessions have also been organised by the stress counsellors of the Force during the quarantine period", Pandey added.

The ITBP quarantine facility at Chhawla Camp was set up in January last year when the Indians and foreign nationals were brought in from Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus in China.

This was the first health facility set up by the ITBP with a 1,000-bedded quarantine centre.

So far this centre has quarantined more than 1,200 persons, including 42 nationals from eight countries such as Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Maldives, the US, South Africa, Madagascar, and Afghanistan, who were evacuated from various parts of the world from January to May in 2020.