NEW DELHI: Amid rising concerns over the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus in the UK, five out of 266 passengers and crew members of a London to Delhi flight have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Tuesday.
"Five out of 266 passengers and crew members of a flight which arrived at Delhi airport from London last night have tested positive for COVID-19. Their samples have been sent to NCDC for research and they have been sent to the care centre," said a Nodal officer for COVID-19.
This comes as flight services from the UK to India have been suspended till December 31 over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus in London and England.
Passengers arriving from the UK in Punjab were seen waiting in a long queue on Tuesday at the Amritsar airport to get themselves tested for COVID-19 in the wake of the new virus coronavirus strain. Scores of people waited outside Amritsar airport to receive their relatives who came from a flight from London.
"Authorities are asking passengers to undergo COVID-19 testing even if they were tested just before boarding the flight. They should be allowed to go home," said a relative of one of the passengers.
Deepak Bhatia, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Ajnala) said that the people arriving from London need to undergo an RT-PCR test which may take hours due to which the passengers will have to stay at the airport.
Furthermore, scores of passengers arriving from the UK in Mumbai on Tuesday morning have been sent for institutional quarantine in the wake of the new virus strain.
On the other hand, two passengers from the UK were found positive for COVID-19 after they arrived at the airport here, health department officials said on Tuesday.
A flight carrying 222 passengers from the UK arrived at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport on Sunday night, they said.
"Twenty-five passengers did not have COVID reports with them. So they were taken to a nearby quarantine centre, and their coronavirus tests were conducted. Two tested positive," the West Bengal Health and Family Welfare Department official said.
Meanwhile, passengers have to get themselves tested for COVID-19 at the Amritsar airport, as per the Punjab government's new rules.
Passengers were seen waiting in a long queue on Tuesday at the Amritsar airport to get themselves tested for COVID-19 while scores of people waited outside Amritsar airport to receive their relatives who came from London.
"Authorities are asking passengers to undergo COVID-19 testing but they were tested just before boarding the flight. They should be allowed to go home," said a relative of one of the passengers.
Deepak Bhatia, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Ajnala) said that the people arriving from London need to undergo an RT-PCR test which may take hours due to which the passengers will have to stay at the airport.
"A total of 242 passengers have arrived on board this special flight. They need to undergo RT-PCR test which may take 6-8 hours and for that, passengers need to stay at the airport," said SDM Deepak Bhatia.
Meanwhile, flight services from the UK to India have been suspended till December 31 over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus in London and England.
Passengers arriving from the UK in Mumbai on Tuesday morning have been sent for institutional quarantine in the wake of the new virus strain.
On December 20, Prime Minister Boris Johnson informed the public that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been found in the UK.
He tweeted, "Given the early evidence we have on this new variant of the virus, and the potential risk it poses, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned."
(With PTI and ANI Inputs)