COVID-19: Indian paddler Takeme stuck in Spain, says she is fine

Kolkata, March 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Indian table tennis player Takeme Sarkar, who went to Spain to take part in the Spanish League, is stuck in Malaga due to the lockdown in India with no international flights coming to the country.

The Railways paddler, ranked 14th nationally by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), went to Spain to take part in the Spanish League which was supposed to start from February and continue till May.

Takeme, who hails from Jalpaiguri, said she was booked for a March 24 flight back home but with India under 21-day lockdown, she had to change her plans.

"I am fine here. My club members are very supportive, they are providing food and everything. They had booked my return tickets on 24th March but due to flights getting cancelled, I could not come back," Takeme said in a statement.

"My parents have been very supportive, my coach has always given me suggestions for everything and is also guiding me," she added.

The number of coronavirus deaths in Spain has surpassed China, where the pandemic originated last December, to become the second worst-hit country in terms of fatalities after Italy.

According to update by the Washington-based John Hopkins University, Spain has recorded a total of 3,647 deaths, while the death toll in China stood at 3,291. Italy tops the list of global deaths at 7,503.

A total of 49,515 confirmed cases means Spain has a nationwide fatality rate of around 7.2 per cent. New cases rose by 20 per cent.

According to Fernando Simon, the head of the country's emergency public health department, the fatality ratio has levelled out in recent days and figures seem to indicate that Spain is approaching a peak in coronavirus cases.

Source: IANS