LONDON: Thousands of Indian students are stranded in Britain and desperate to get back to India as a full lockdown appears imminent in the UK to battle the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).Even though these students are in the middle of their courses and are temporarily barred from returning, the Indian high commission in London and student bodies have been inundated with calls from Indian students wanting to get back.On Monday the Indian government issued a travel advisory preventing anyone in the UK entering India between March 18 and March 31. All day there was confusion as Indian students were not sure if it applied to them and by the end of the day it was confirmed it was.There was a last-minute scramble to get tickets in the two-day window and prices shot through the roof. One Oxford student paid Rs 3.5 lakh for a one-way economy ticket from London to Mumbai, INSA (Indian National Student Association) president Amit Tiwari told TOI.“Most would rather go back as there is a fear factor here in the UK. They are not from here. There are less fatalities in India at present,” Tiwari said. “The announcement came as a surprise — that Indian citizens are not allowed in. Many had tickets booked for one or two weeks’ time for the Easter break and they were not prepared to go back out of the blue. Tickets then sold out. There is a section of Indian students whose UK visas are expiring at the end of March. They are stuck in no-man’s land. We have asked the high commission to make priority for these people,” he said.“Universities have moved entirely to online teaching so Indian students see no reason to be here now. They also think not enough is being done by the UK government to address the virus situation. They think India is responding better,” said National Indian Students & Alumni Union UK chairperson Sanam Arora, explaining that students had shifted to using collaborative tools like Slack and Moodle.“This is a testing time and they see no reason to self-isolate in a foreign country where they have no family support. I had one student contact me with symptoms who wanted to get tested and she could not get tested in Britain. Their well-being is their main concern even if they have to spend an outrageous amount to get back,” Arora said.Four Indian students from the same course as Mumbaikar Vipashana Kamble, 30, a master’s student at LSE, have flown back. “They think India is safer than the UK. If they get it they think it is better to be in India as they have more logistical support there rather than being isolated in London. I haven’t gone back as I don’t want to be quarantined for 14 days at the airport and my parents are old. I am worried I would infect them. But a lot of them are much younger than me and their parents want them back. The teaching has all gone online, even our one-to-one sessions with our professors are being done by Skype. They are recording lectures and we can watch them anytime. We are using Zoom for seminars so they can carry on their courses from India,” Kamble said.A high commission official said: “We have asked the UK government to extend the visas of Indian nationals that are expiring soon and they have assured us it will not be an issue in the context of Covid. We are also working on contingency plans to make special arrangements for those that want to leave can do so, as we did in Italy . The problem is flights are closing down. We are getting hundreds of calls from Indian nationals who want to go back.”A spokesman for the home office said: “The home office recognises the current situation is exceptional and will not take any compliance action against students who are unable to attend their studies due to the coronavirus outbreak.”