MANGALURU: More than 90 passengers and crew members of a Dubai flight that had landed in Mangaluru on March 14 were put under home quarantine on Tuesday after it was learnt that one of the passengers from Kerala in that flight had tested positive for coronavirus.
Earlier in the day, the authorities and people of Mangaluru were left anxious after the news spread that the person who had travelled from Mangaluru Airport to Kasargod had tested positive.
Soon, the Dakshina Kannada district authorities got in touch with their counterparts in Kasargod to find out his route map and people the patient had come across in the airport and other places before he reached Kasargod.
However, by evening, the Kerala government announced that the person had travelled directly from Mangaluru to Kasargod without stopping anywhere in between.
Meanwhile, the Dakshina Kannada district administration which sprang into action managed to zero in on all the passengers and crew members who had travelled with the patient and put them under home quarantine.
Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said that there were more than 90 passengers and crew who had travelled with the patient and so far none of them have symptoms of COVID-19. However, she said that they will keep a watch on them.
According to the route map of the patient released by the Kerala government in the app 'GoK Direct', the passenger along with his cousin arrived at Mangaluru International Airport from Dubai in Air India Express IX 814 flight at 5:20 am on March 14. From the airport, he was picked up two other persons and they proceeded to Kasargod in a private car.
At 7 am, they reached a private hospital in Kasargod and gave his blood sample. Over 90 passengers had landed in city in the same flight. Health and family welfare minister B Sriramulu who was in city to take stock of the situation over the dreaded coronavirus had said the incident is a matter of concern.