ITBP: All 78 quarantined evacuees from Afghanistan test negative for Covid-19

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said on Wednesday all the 78 evacuees, including women and children, from Afghanistan who have been quarantined at its Chhawla camp following their arrival on Tuesday have tested negative for Covid-19.

Earlier, there were reports that a number of these people who had been tested for the virus at Delhi airport were infected by the virus, but all of them were asymptomatic.

An official statement from the ITBP said, "78 evacuees were shifted to ITBP's Chhawla-based camp till Tuesday late night. Of total evacuees, 24 are Indians and 54 Afghan nationals that include 53 males, 14 females and 11 children. All had gone through Covid-19 test at Indira Gandhi International Airport and were reported negative."

The government has made it mandatory for those who are coming from Afghanistan to undergo 14-day institutional quarantine. On Monday, two persons of the 146 passengers who landed in Delhi from Afghanistan were found to be infected by the virus.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said the Indian government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan following its takeover by the Taliban, besides evacuating minorities like Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.

However, it said the main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan at the moment was the operational status of the Kabul airport.

India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan.

The permission was granted by American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces, which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15.