In what deems to be a surprising turn of events, 19 passengers on Air India’s Delhi-Wuhan flight, tested COVID positive on reaching Wuhan. The passengers were part of Air India’s Vande Bharat flight to China on October 30. This was the first flights to Wuhan under the Vande Bharat Mission. It was the 6th flight to China under India’s massive repatriation mission. According to Air India, all 19 passengers tested COVID negative while boarding the flight. Read on to know more.
19 Passengers Test COVID-19 Positive On Arrival In Wuhan From Air India’s Delhi-Wuhan Flight
On October 30, 19 passengers from Air India’s Delhi-Wuhan flight-tested COVID-19 positive on arrival at Wuhan. Apart from this 40 out of 277 passengers also had COVID antibodies. Air India issued an official statement that all passengers who boarded this flight, went through compulsory COVID testing. They were allowed to get in the flight only after they showed their COVID-19 negative certificates. The rules state that all passengers must undergo 2 mandatory coronavirus tests before getting permission to board the flight.
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Air India States That All 19 Passengers Tested COVID-19 Negative While Boarding Flight From Delhi
Chinese authorities reveal that all 19 passengers were instantly transferred to a local hospital. They informed that these passengers will be discharged once they test negative for the virus. It’s yet to see if the fact that 19 passengers contracting coronavirus has a negative effect on Indian flights to China. Hong Kong suspends flights for 14 days if 5 or more passengers on a single flight get infected with coronavirus on arrival. India previously flew flights to Ningbo, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
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This isn’t the first time where outbound passengers on Air India flights abroad tested positive on arrival. Earlier, Hong Kong banned all Air India flights till November 10 after a few passengers from Mumbai tested positive on arrival. Hong Kong banned flights operated by Air India, 4 times earlier. . Time will tell if China will yet again ban flights after 19 passengers tested COVID positive on arrival in Wuhan. Currently, the Vande Bharat mission helped over 2 million Indians from all across the world.