COVID-19: US to repatriate Americans living in India

Hyderabad: The US has announced that it has arranged special flights on 4 April to repatriate Americans living in various Indian cities.

US citizens residing in New Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan will be evacuated from New Delhi.

Regarding their travel arrangements to Delhi, they have been asked to get in touch with US consulates in India. Meanwhile, Americans in Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad will have to board the flights from Mumbai. The consulates will take care of the travel arrangements.

For assistance, the US embassy has asked Americans to send a mail to indiaevac@state.gov with details like their location, phone number, and passport and visa details. The embassy said they will get a call within 24 hours. They will be informed of the travel arrangements via the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). The embassy has asked people to enroll themselves on STEP (https://step.state.gov/) so that their travel details can be updated.

Principal deputy assistant secretary for consular affairs Ian Brownlee said, “We started our repatriation efforts on Wednesday with a flight that brought in some 170 US citizens from India.” He thanked the Indian government for assistance amid the 21-day lockdown in the country.

The US is one of the worst-affected countries by the Corona virus. As of 2 April, 5,116 people have died of Covid-19 and 215,417 are infected.