By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: Three nurses out of more than 320 health workers flown back from India to Kuwait by a special Kuwait Airways flight on Thursday have tested positive for COVID-19, Kuwait Times has learned from multiple sources.

The infected nurses have been admitted to Jaber Hospital while others have been placed under quarantine in accordance with the COVID-19 protocol. It is not yet year clear how and when these nurses contracted the virus.

More than 700 health workers working under various ministries in Kuwait as doctors, nurses and paramedical staff were on leave in India and were stranded in the country following lockdowns in both Kuwait and India at the start of the outbreak of the virus pandemic.

Meanwhile, more than 300 nurses also arrived in Kuwait from Cochin on Friday after the return of 322 others from Cochin on Thursday. Another batch of more than 100 nurses is also expected to reach the country from Calicut on Saturday. The decision to bring back the stranded Indian nurses was taken in accordance with the instructions given by Minister of Health Dr Basil Al-Sabah, Al-Jarida newspaper reported.

The Indian nurses, both male and female, flown back from India will be posted to work in various health facilities in the country in order to meet the requirements of public and field hospitals combating the coronavirus pandemic, according to a plan developed in this regard.

The MoH has provided the health workers who arrived from India with temporary housing at the Jaber Al-Ahmad area until the results of their laboratory tests are announced. They will be sent back to their homes subsequently.

The stranded health workers were brought back to Kuwait as a result of coordination between Kuwaiti and Indian authorities in this regard, the sources added.