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| Relatives perform the last rites for COVID-19 victims during their funeral at a cremation ground in New Delhi, India, Thursday. Delhi reported 25,986 fresh cases, 368 deaths in last 24 hours and continue to struggle with the oxygen supply. India's deadly COVID-19 second wave has devastated big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Pune. EPA-Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
As a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc in India, the government here is considering increasing the number of flights to repatriate South Korean residents there, while raising its travel alert to the country by one notch, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
Currently, the government's travel alert for India is "yellow," the third-highest in its four-tier system, in which travelers are advised to refrain from traveling to the country. If the alert is raised to "red," the second highest, Koreans there are advised to return home.
An official with the foreign ministry said about 128 out of 10,000 Koreans staying in India had been infected by COVID-19 as of Thursday morning ― 72 in 2020 and 56 this year, five of whom have recovered. But the actual number of infections is estimated to be higher than the ministry data, as there are people who have not informed the Korean Embassy of their contracting the virus.
"We have increased the number of round-trip flights between India and Korea from the original six to twelve, twice as many as before to quickly respond to the increasing demand from Korean residents who want to return home," the official said.
But he added that the increase would be temporary, as many Koreans there probably want to remain in India where they run businesses, such as factories or restaurants.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry is planning to send relief supplies to India, including medical equipment like oxygen generators and negative pressure stretchers. It is also reviewing sending COVID-19 diagnostic kits.
