Authorities at the Kochi airport in Kerala had to offload at least 289 passengers of a Dubai-bound Emirates flight after a British national tested positive for coronavirus shortly before the takeoff.
The British national was travelling with 18 other members of his group. He was under surveillance for the virus while holidaying in the hill resort town of Munnar. However, he decided to join his group at Kochi airport without informing the authorities.
The authorities later came to know that the British national had tested positive for coronavirus. They soon realised that he had made his way to the Kochi airport and boarded the Dubai-bound plane.
They first decided to offload only the 19 passengers of his group. “Now, it is decided to offload the remaining 270 pax also and send them to hospital for further investigation”, a spokesperson for the airport was quoted by news agency PTI.
Elsewhere, a 59-year-old woman tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad. She had recently returned from Russia. This has taken the number of people, who tested positive for COVID19 to 32.
The total number of patients, who tested positive for coronavirus, has risen to 107. Two people have died due to the outbreak of coronavirus in India. This included one in Bengaluru and one in Delhi.
