Indian Army has set up seven new quarantine facilities to accommodate 400 Indians who are set to be evacuated from Iran.

"In the next two to three days, we are expecting more citizens to come back to India. We have prepared new facilities at places including Jodhpur, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Kolkata, Jaisalmer, Chennai and Deolali where we can quarantine these people," Army spokesperson Col Aman Anand said.

"We already have 265 citizens in our two facilities at Manesar in Gurugram and Hindon in Ghaziabad," he added.

Responding to an emergency requirement to create and manage Indian and foreign nationals from friendly foreign countries, the Indian Army has created a facility near Manesar where detainees can be monitored for a duration of two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff members, to watch for any signs of infection.

Till date, a total of 455 individuals -- who have arrived from Wuhan (248), Japan (124) and Italy (83) -- have been quarantined in three batches at the emergency quarantine facility created by the Indian Army.

The emergency facility consists of temporary barracks for accommodation, administration and medical facilities. To prevent a mass outbreak, the facility has been divided into sectors, each with a maximum capacity of 50 persons. The population of sectors is not allowed to intermingle with each other.

Daily medical examinations of all detainees are being done at the medical facility area. All detainees are required to wear a three-layered mask at all times. After 14 days, persons with no symptoms are allowed to go home with their detailed documentation sent to the district/ state surveillance units for further surveillance. Those found infected are shifted to isolation facilities for further medical exams and recovery.

Apart from playing games, watching TV and having meals together within a barrack, persons are not allowed to interact with the members of another barrack or sector.

Sources have indicated that the Indian Army is incurring an approximate expenditure of Rs 3.5 lakhs per day in running the facility. Indian Army has committed 60 personnel to run the facility.

While the facility is deemed to be an emergency facility responding to emergency requirements given by the government, sources managing the facility have indicated that many detainees demand special facilities like independent rooms thus creating hindrances in the smooth functioning of the medical and administrative staff at the facility.

"Since the evacuees have already traveled together, the aspect of individual quarantine for 14 days may not find much merit. Despite differing individual preferences and demands, the army has gone about doing their job in the best possible way," an army official said.

Due to the large scale prevalence of coronavirus around the world, Indian citizens who were in countries like China (Wuhan) and Iran were evacuated by Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft on two occasions.

On the second occasion, a total of 57 pilgrims from Ladakh region who had visited Quom, Iran for pilgrimage, were brought by C-17 aircraft on Tuesday to Air Force Station Hindan. These consisted of 33 women, two children and 22 men.

Over 80 people who arrived from Italy on AI flight AI138 on Wednesday are been quarantined at the Indian Army facility at Manesar.

"The evacuees will be monitored for a duration of two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff members, to watch for any signs of infection. If any individual is suspected to be infected, he/she will be shifted to an isolation facility," the officer said.