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Coronavirus: 129 passengers arrive from Dubai at Pune airport; 2 quarantined at Naidu Hospital
Two Indian nationals- a 26-year-old woman and her one year old infant were sent to the government quarantine facility at Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital after the woman voluntarily disclosed that both had cough
Two of the 129 passengers who arrived by the 4.35 am Spice Jet flight SG0052 from Dubai were taken to the government’s quarantine facility on arrival at Pune International Airport, Lohegaon, as per the heightened response to the novel coronavirus outbreak globally.
The 129 passengers included 74 men, 41 women, 10 children and four infants arrived by the flight, the Pune district administration said in a release. These passengers included 11 foreigners and no suspected cases of COVID-19 were detected at the airport, the administration said.
Two Indian nationals- a 26-year-old woman and her one year old infant were sent to the government quarantine facility at Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital after the woman voluntarily disclosed that both had cough. All other passengers were advised to stay in isolation at home. The entire operation was handled by the Pune district administration, government health authorities, airport officials and the police, the release said.
At 3 am, four ambulances stood waiting near the D2, VIP exit even as the Dubai flight was scheduled for arrival at 4.35 am. The flight, however, arrived at 4.05 am with a team of medical staff and police escort waiting on standby at the airport.
At 5.25 am, one passenger was brought out by a medical staff in protective clothing to a waiting ambulance. A team of government doctors was present at the airport and was in close coordination with the team waiting in the ambulance outside.
On Thursday evening, Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar had said at a press briefing that passengers arriving by the Dubai - Pune flight with a history of visiting seven “high risk” nations post February 15, would be placed under institutional quarantine for 14 days. This would mean quarantine at a government hospital or a government-designated quarantine facility in Pune. The list of “high risk” nations includes China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany. Passengers who travelled to any of these countries after February 15 would be taken to quarantine facilities in the city, irrespective of whether or not they have any symptoms, Mhaisekar had said.
Other passengers without travel history to the high risk nations would be advised isolation at home, he had said.
The usually bustling Pune Airport was completely deserted outside the arrival gate without any taxi or autorickshaw drivers waiting for passengers.
“My son is on this flight which is from Dubai. This was his stop over flight from Seattle, USA, where he is studying. I pre-poned his tickets so that he could travel home today, as he is an OCI (overseas citizen of India) card holder and is studying at a university in US,” said Anil S who came from Chinchwad to pick his son.
Suraj Sonawane, a tea seller at the airport said, “For the past 15 days, the airport has had a deserted look, ever since the news of the coronavirus outbreak. Even I don’t want to take any risk by continuing to work here.”
A small group of autorickshaw drivers at the pre-paid autorickshaw stand lamented at the sharp drop in their earnings due to the rapidly changing situation. “Business has been affected badly and though we want to help people reach their destinations, there are not many passengers,” said Ajit Bondge, an auto driver.
The passengers who arrived from Dubai trickled out slowly almost after an hour after they were thoroughly screened inside.
“It’s a long queue inside for screening passengers; there are two counters where they are using an apparatus, a kind of thermal screening to gauge our temperature. The flight was 75 per cent full,” one passenger said.
