Saudi Arabia repatriates COVID infected family from India

RIYADH: A Saudi family infected with COVID-19 was repatriated from India on a special medical flight, media reports here said.

The medical air evacuation plane arrived at the King Salman Air Force Base in Riyadh on Monday after a 15-hour flight, the Saudi Gazette reported.

The airlift of the Saudi family was done by the Ministry of Defence at the direction of Saudi King Salman, the paper said.

There was no official confirmation from the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi.

The photos published by the local media showed ambulances waiting by the runway to receive the Saudi family members.

They left the plane in individual pods to prevent the spread of the virus.

Saudi Arabia has transported at least 74 people critically ill with COVID-19 using medical evacuation planes.

So far, 435,027 people have contracted the coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, including 1,047 new cases on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Health, 14 more people died over the past 24 hours due to complications caused by the virus, taking the death toll to 7,188.