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Foreigner among 2 passengers to test Covid-19 positive at Kolkata airport
India last week started randomly testing 2% of international travellers coming to the country for Covid-19 as several countries, particularly China, reported a spike in cases.
KOLKATA: Two passengers including a foreign national who landed at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International airport in Kolkata have tested positive for Covid-19 since Sunday, officials said.
“One of them was a British national. She had come from Australia via Kuala Lumpur and was going to Bodh Gaya in Bihar. The woman was shifted to the Infectious Diseases and BG Hospital in Kolkata,” said a senior West Bengal health department official.
A senior airport official said the second passenger to test positive for Covid-19 is an Indian national from Bihar’s Darbhanga district. He arrived at the airport on a flight from Dubai.
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“Both samples are being sent for genome sequencing,” the health department official quoted above said.
India last week begun randomly testing 2% of international travellers coming to the country for Covid-19 as several countries, particularly China, reported a spike in cases.
Health department officials also held a meeting with district authorities and heads of state-run hospitals in Kolkata to take stock of their preparedness.
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“Three state-run hospitals in Kolkata - Infectious Diseases and BG Hospital, Sambhu Nath Pandit Hospital and MR Bangur Hospital – have been identified where Covid-19 patients would be shifted,” said the official.
The district authorities have also been told to identify a hospital in each district to treat Covid-19 patients in case there is a spike in Covid-19 cases.
“Hospitals have also been asked to take stock of their preparedness,” said the official.
Health officials said nine fresh Covid-19 cases were detected across the state on Sunday. There are 53 active cases in the state, according to state health department data.
