The United Nurses Association has filed a plea in Delhi High Court seeking repatriation of 56 pregnant nurses via a chartered flight, currently stranded in the Middle East. Fifty-five of the pregnant nurses are stranded in Saudi Arabia, while one is stuck in Kuwait.
The petition says that these nurses need immediate medical, social and even psychological support since they are exposed to risk of coronavirus infection. The association has sought a direction to the Union government to schedule a special chartered flight on top priority to bring back these stranded nurses.
It also claims that these women didn’t get priority for repatriation in the first phase of ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ despite serious medical issues as most of them are in the third trimester of pregnancy. It contends that these nurses are at the front line of Covid-19 outbreak response and exposed to health risks due to unavailability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) in many hospitals. According to the petition, the airline policy barring a woman from travelling after 36 weeks of pregnancy should be relaxed in this case.