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6 test Covid positive on Day 1 of new guidelines, samples sent for Omicron test
The Centre's new travel guidelines came into effect on Wednesday. It calls for stringent checking of passengers arriving from countries designated as 'at-risk' nations. On the first day of implementation of these guidelines, 11 flights arrived from these countries.
The Centre said that it found six coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases after screening 3,476 passengers from "at risk" countries on the first day of the implementation of the revised travel guidelines.
The Centre said that it found six coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases after screening 3,476 passengers from "at risk" countries on the first day of the implementation of the revised travel guidelines.
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These passengers came from 11 flights which landed at various airports of the country from midnight to 4 pm on Wednesday (December 1).
All 3,476 passengers were administered RT-PCR tests, the government further said.
The samples of Covid-19 positive passengers have been sent to INSACOG labs for genomic sequencing to identify if they contain the new Omicron variant. The government said that it continues to keep track of the evolving situation.
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Four of the passengers, who tested positive today, flew into Delhi from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. All four have been admitted to the LNJP Hospital, where a dedicated ward has been set up for isolating and treating such patients, they added.
"Four flights originating from Amsterdam and London and carrying 1,013 passengers landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport between 12 night and 6 am. Of these passengers, four have tested positive," news agency PTI reported quoting officials.
According to the Centre, the countries designated as "at-risk" are European countries, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
Travellers from these "at-risk" countries are following additional measures on arrival in India from Tuesday midnight.
Under the new norms, RT-PCR tests are mandatory for passengers arriving from the "at-risk" countries and they will be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come.
Also, five per cent of the passengers arriving in flights from other countries will be subject to the test randomly.
