Over 400 medical students from Kerala remain stranded in the landlocked East European country of the Republic of Moldova with little chance to fly back home even as the COVID-19 scare threatens to turn intense with 66 cases reporting in just a fortnight.
The country had bus services with Italy before the border was eventually closed as the situation in Italy deteriorated. “But till then there were frequent movements between the two countries and the chances of many people getting infected remain real,” K. Najab, a third year medical student from Kozhikode, told The Hindu over phone from his hostel.
Malayalis dominate the nearly 600 Indian students of the USMF, the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, staying in university hostels and apartments outside the campus. Though food and other provisions are still available, an imminent shortage cannot be ruled out if the situation continues.
“People are in quarantine and there are no large-scale fatalities either at this moment. But with the continuing acute shortage of protective gear such as masks and sanitisers, which ran out of stock over a week back, the potential of large-scale infections cannot be ruled out,” said Najab.
Classes were shut more than a week back and are now being held online. With the border connecting Italy sealed, students have the only option to fly out of the Moscow, Istanbul or Frankfurt airports and if those airports also are shut at any point even that limited scope for returning home will be lost.
Direct flight
“Flights from these airports operate only to Delhi or Mumbai, which means that we will have to organise for another flight to reach home. The only solution is for a direct flight to Kerala.
Students from countries such as Israel, U.K. and the U.S. have already left after those countries arranged for their transportation, leaving behind only Indian students,” said Najab.
