10 more contacts of fliers from UK test positive for Covid-19

As of Monday evening, 31 patients were admitted in the special ward at Lok Nayak hospital of whom 20 are UK-returned Covid-19 patients and 11 are their contacts who tested positive.

Ten more contacts of fliers who recently returned from the United Kingdom and tested positive for Covid-19 in Delhi have been diagnosed for the infection and admitted in a special ward at Lok Nayak hospital, a senior government official said on Monday.

A senior official in Delhi’s revenue department said around 14,000 passengers arrived at the Delhi airport between November 25 and December 21 — of whom around 1,500 are Delhi residents. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

As of Monday evening, 31 patients were admitted in the special ward at Lok Nayak hospital of whom 20 are UK-returned Covid-19 patients and 11 are their contacts who tested positive.

Of the 20 patients who returned from the UK, 11 were moved to the ward directly from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) after being tested on arrival between Tuesday and Wednesday. They had arrived in the last few flights from the UK before trips were suspended in light of a new, more contagious variant of Covid-19 reported to have emerged in the country.

“The other nine UK-returned patients were found Covid-19 positive after being traced and tested by the government since Wednesday under an ongoing outreach drive,” the senior official said.

The swab samples of all such individuals who have tested positive have also been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi for genome sequencing, to ascertain if they have been infected by variant discovered in the UK. The results of these tests are awaited, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

“Of the 11 contacts of UK-returned Covid-19 patients who were found infected, one was identified on Friday – and 10 more were identified over the weekend,” the senior official said.

While people arriving from UK on December 22 and 23 — after the government announced flights would be suspended till December 31 — were directly scanned, tested and quarantined (if needed) from the airports, state governments have been entrusted with reaching out and conducting Covid-19 tests on all passengers who arrived from UK between November 25 and December 21, even if they had previously been tested on arrival.

A senior official in Delhi’s revenue department said around 14,000 passengers arrived at the Delhi airport between November 25 and December 21 — of whom around 1,500 are Delhi residents. District officials said they are in the process of tracing them all and, so far, around 1,200 of them have been tested, said another senior official in the government’s revenue department.

Once a UK returnee tests positives, all her /his contacts are to be tested. The contacts awaiting test results and those who test negative have to complete mandatory institutional quarantine. They can either opt for a government facility in Chhatarpur – which currently has around 100 individuals lodged -- or a paid facility in hotel at Aerocity.