Initially, we did not take COVID outbreak seriously: Students


PTI | Vadodara | Updated: 20-02-2020 00:15 IST | Created: 20-02-2020 00:15 IST
Initially, we did not take COVID outbreak seriously: Students
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  • India

Two students from Gujarat, who have returned to India from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city

of Wuhan, on Wednesday said initially they did not take reports about the outbreak seriously.

Shreya Jaiman (18) and Vrund Patel (19), both classmates, were among the the hundreds of Indians who were

airlifted from Wuhan last month after the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China.

On return from China, they were quarantined for nearly 17 days at a facility at an ITBP camp in Delhi from where they

have now come back to their homes in Vadodara. Jaiman and Patel were studying in a medical

universityin Wuhan, the capital of central Chinas Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Talking to PTI tonight, Jaiman and Patel described their experience in the coronavirus-hit Wuhan city in days

leading to their departure. The two students said initially they took lightly

reports about surfacing of the deadly virus in the Chinese city.

The duo said they realised the gravity of the situation only in mid-January, days after the first case of

the virus was reported in December-end. They thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External

Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for evacuating them from Wuhan and reuniting with their family members, who were worried

about their wellbeing after outbreak of the deadly disease, which has killed more than 2,000 people in China till now.

The students said their university has extended the winter vacation.

"The Wuhan city went into lockdown on January 23. All students were restricted to their rooms and homes. It was

difficult for even Indian embassy officials to come there," they said.

They somehow managed to communicate with their families, Jaiman and Patel said.

The family members of both the students were happy to seen them come back home.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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