Chandigarh: Over 170 passengers out of 285, on board a chartered flight from Rome, tested positive for Covid-19 after they landed in Punjab’s Amritsar airport on Friday. This comes a day after 125 out of 179 passengers who returned to the city from Italy’s capital were found to be positive for the contagious virus.
The infection patients are likely to be shifted to isolation wards set up in hospitals across the city, as per the guidelines of the government.
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According to reports, the chartered plane landed at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport this afternoon and upon testing 173 passengers came out positive for the virus. Airport authorities have said that the number of infected passengers may increase as testing is still going on.
The flight, which landed in Amritsar on Friday, was operated by EuroAtlantic Airways and was chartered by SpiceJet.
Ambulances have reached Amritsar airport and infected passengers will be sent to quarantine centres in respective districts.
A high drama was witnessed at the airport on Thursday when passengers got angry over health protocols and raised slogans against the government demanding it to allow them to go to their homes.
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Reports also stated that around 15 passengers escaped from hospitals on Thursday after they were sent for further treatment.
Italy has been marked as an “at-risk” country by Union Health Ministry which means that all passengers arriving from Italy have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test for Coronavirus.
Even if they test negative for Covid-19, all international arrivals from “at-risk” countries will have to undergo seven-day mandatory home quarantine.
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