With domestic flights recently resuming in India, reports of several fresh Covid-19 cases among people who undertook domestic flights is fast emerging as the next big worry for authorities.
Even though there were strict social distancing norms that were being maintained and people were seen in masks and in full protective gear, the fact that new cases have been reported from among those who undertook flights lately has caused concern.
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At least eight passengers tested positive for Covid-19 over the last three days that domestic travel resumed. All the positive cases have been put under institutional quarantine at their respective destinations of arrival. The co-passengers have mostly been traced. The respective airlines have quarantined the crew also.
One of the first cases to be reported was from a Chennai-Coimbatore flight operated by private carrier IndiGo. The passenger tested positive on arrival.
Other cases include a passenger from Air India’s Alliance Air flight from Delhi to Ludhiana. Two passengers on SpiceJet flight from Ahmedabad to Guwahati also tested positive. Similarly, three passengers in Jammu also tested positive post landing. Another case came to light when a passenger on an IndiGo flight, from Bengaluru to Madurai tested positive.
In the latest reports, six people from Chennai who arrived at Salem Airport on Wednesday have also tested positive for COVID-19.
All the respective airlines have issued statements that the passengers are quarantined as per protocol. The crew and co-passengers have also been quarantined.
As per the directive from the aviation ministry, only one-third of the overall flight capacity is operational during this period, because of COVID-19.
NewsMobile had done a ground check at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, to check the adherence to processes. There were abundant screening points, limits on luggage, contactless tickets and identity checks etc. However, as asymptomatic carriers cannot be ascertained during screening, these positive cases came to the forefront after the passengers reached their destinations.