Singer Sonu Nigam has decided to extend his stay in Dubai as he believes travelling amid the coronavirus outbreak can put people around him at risk.
The singer was in the Himalayas earlier and wanted to come to Mumbai for a concert scheduled for March 6 but it got postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. He then decided to head to Dubai to be with his wife and son and has been there since a few weeks.
"I am fortunate that my wife and my son are in Dubai. My son studies here and I keep travelling here a lot, Dubai is like my second base. But my father, sister are alone in India. I wanted to come back to India and be at my father's side but I realised that if I do that, I'll be exposing him to the risk of me carrying this virus, who knows the extent of the danger," Sonu told PTI.
The 46-year-old singer said everybody is taking precautions and he wants to ensure that the health of those around him isn't at risk.
"I thought let's not outsmart the virus. I thought it's better for me to stay for a bit (till things go normal). Coming back to India, and then going in quarantine will still be a risk.
"I came to Dubai and I thought I'll be able to go back to India but I didn't know it's going to be such an issue eventually. But we are fine here."
"The last time I was contemplating coming to India was on March 16 night, but thankfully my flight got cancelled. Then from March 17, there was this regulation from the government of India that you have to go on a self quarantine for 14 days, compulsorily. I decided I shouldn't take a chance. Being a potential carrier is the worst thing," he said
"We all are being safe, staying indoors, not gathering with many people. Careless people shouldn't be around you at this point, people who are too brash, that 'oh nothing will happen.' I don't allow such people in my vicinity. I'm.very hygiene conscious anyway."
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