New Delhi, January 28: India has begun the process to prepare for the evacuation of Indian nationals who are stuck in China's Hubei Province, where 106 people have died due to the deadly novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) so far. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India on Tuesday said that the process has begun and Indian nationals affected by the situation arising in China and the embassy in Beijing will be evacuated soon. "Our Embassy in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese govt authorities and our nationals on this matter", the MEA said. The National Health Commission informed that 5,000 people were diagnosed with the 2019-nCoV related pneumonia till date.

India has asked all its people to submit their passport details to the country's embassy in Beijing. According to reports, as many as 500 Indian students are studying in colleges and universities in Wuhan. The city is the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has been placed under a lockdown.

The Indian embassy in Beijing took to Twitter and noted that some nationals were not in possession of their passports as they submitted them to the Chinese authorities for visa extension, work permit or other reasons.  Hundreds of Indians are trapped in in Wuhan city, which is the capital of Hubei province. Coronavirus in China: Heartbreaking Video Shows Doctor Screaming and Crying After Continuously Working for Days Without Sleep.

Take a Look at the Tweets:

On Tuesday, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said there is nothing to panic, coronavirus has not come to India. We have taken all precautionary measures. All hospitals have been asked to make isolation wards, we have launched a helpline number.  The World Health Organization (WHO) is yet to declare the novel coronavirus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) despite over 100 fatalities in China, identified the disease as high risk.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 28, 2020 03:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).