The Consulate General of India in Dubai has distributed food and essential supplies to over 4,000 Indian expatriates in the UAE, helping them cope up with the coronavirus restrictions imposed in the Gulf kingdom, according to a media report.
The novel coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city last December, has claimed 43 lives and infected 7,265 people in the UAE so far. The Gulf kingdom has imposed strict social distancing measures and a night-time curfew to combat the spread of the virus.
"Our Consulate has been providing food to the needy Indians directly and through community organisations and Indian associations for past several days. 1,500 people were given food packets in last two days," the Indian mission tweeted on Monday.
Thousands of Indians are stranded in the UAE due to travel restrictions. The outbreak of the pandemic has led to job losses and salary cuts in the UAE and has put pressure on expatriates.
"We have helped more than 4000 people with food packets, rations or both through our Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) and with support from various community organisations and Indian associations," Consul General of India in Dubai Vipul was quoted as saying by The Khaleej Times.
He said the consulate has arranged accommodation for over 60 people from the ICWF.
The consulate is coordinating with the UAE government to repatriate the mortal remains of 17 deceased Indians, the daily reported.
"With minimal staff our Consulate and outsourcing centre continues to provide emergency passport and attestation services. People are advised to bear with us and only approach for services which are absolutely essential," the consulate said in another tweet.
Vipul thanked the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and other agencies for serving COVID-19 patients, including Indians. "Over the past few weeks, we have forwarded requests from several hundred Indians for medical help related to Covid-19 to the relevant authorities," he added.
Two helplines (+971-56 5463 903/ 54 3090 575) and an e-mail (cons1.dubai@mea.gov.in) are presently taking messages regarding the coronavirus at the consulate.
Vipul said most of the queries were regarding flights to India, medical help, visa-related issues. "In the past four weeks almost 3,500 calls and 3,000 emails have been answered. We have also been striving to swiftly answer all queries on our social media," Vipul was quoted by The Khaleej Times.
Other than the consulate, many Indian community groups -- the Dubai Gurudwara, BAPS Hindu Temple, Rajasthan Business and Professional Group (RBPG), KMCC, ICAI Dubai Chapter, Friends of India Events, Indian People's Forum among others -- are serving expatriates.
"Many others who want to help have been approaching us with their wish to do so. We have therefore assigned one dedicated e-mail labour.dubai@mea.gov.in to coordinate these efforts," Vipul said.
Due to the social distancing norms and the 'stay home' initiative launched in Dubai, some routine services like passport and attestation services are being provided only on an emergency basis. However, visa application remains suspended. Vipul said applications for renewal of passports which will expire by April 30 are being accepted.
Meanwhile, the 19 Indians, who were in transit at the Dubai International Airport when India stopped inbound flights in view of the pandemic, are still in airport premises.
All the Indians have been lodged at the airport hotel after they tested negative for the coronavirus.
"We thank Emirates Airlines for continuing to look after them. We remain in touch with them and have also given some financial help to them. We hope that they and other people who want to go back to India will be able to travel soon," he said.
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