Passengers, Crew Members In Flights Test Covid-19 Positive Raising Concerns Over Safety Norms At Airports

A 24-year-old passenger onboard a Chennai to Coimbatore IndiGo flight has tested positive for Coronavirus after which the airline has grounded the flight’s crew for 14 days

(Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

New Delhi: As domestic flight services for passengers have resumed in India for air travel across country, four travelers in three different flights have tested positive for Covid-19 so far, raising major concerns over the safety norms at airports.  One passenger of IndiGo Chennai to Coimbatore domestic flight, one member of security staff in Air India’s Delhi to Ludhiana flight and two crew members of Air India’s Toronto to Delhi flight (for bringing stranded Indians) have tested positive for Covid-19. A  24-year-old passenger onboard a Chennai to Coimbatore IndiGo flight has tested positive for Coronavirus after which the airline has grounded the flight’s crew for 14 days. The swab test results came on Tuesday and the patient is admitted at the ESI hospital, Coimbatore. This could possibly be the first case of an air passenger testing positive for coronavirus after domestic flight services resumed.

" We received confirmation from the Coimbatore airport doctor that a passenger who travelled on 6E 381 from Chennai to Coimbatore on 25th May evening, has tested positive for COVID-19 "

-IndiGo (statement)

.” “All our aircraft are regularly sanitised as a standard operating procedure, and the aircraft operating this flight was also immediately disinfected as per protocol. The operating crew has been grounded for 14 days and we are in the process of notifying other passengers as per the government guidelines, to ensure safety of our passengers and staff,” it said. In a statement on Tuesday, IndiGo said that a passenger who travelled on 6E 381 from Chennai to Coimbatore on May 25 evening has tested positive for COVID-19. "All our aircraft are regularly sanitised as a standard operating procedure, and the aircraft operating this flight was also immediately disinfected as per protocol. "The operating crew has been grounded for 14 days and we are in the process of notifying other passengers as per the government guidelines, to ensure safety of our passengers and staff," the statement said. It also said that the infected person was seated in the plane with all precautionary measures including face mask, face shield and gloves and that no other passenger was seated in his vicinity, significantly reducing the possibility of transmission. In another instance of onboard Covid-19 case, a 50-year-old man,  a member of security staff in Air India, has tested positive for coronavirus. The man who is a permanent resident of Delhi, traveled on May 25, in Delhi to Ludhiana flight. On international front, two crew members of Air India plane carrying Indian nationals from Canada’s Tornto to New Delhi have also tested positive. They were onboard the May 21 flight under Vande Bharat mission to bring stranded Indian nationals back to the country. How did Covid-19 patients manage to get onboard? Serious concerns over implementation of safety protocols at airports The incident of Covid-19 patients undertaking air travel in domestic flights, has led to serious concerns, not only over the implementation of safety norms by airports, but on the entire decision of resuming flight operations, at a time Covid-19 cases are on a spike. The new set of guidelines for air travel clearly state that passengers will have to undergo thermal screening before entering the terminal building, and also passengers who don’t show “green” on the app, won’t be allowed to enter. Check| Q&A: New Travel Norms For Domestic Flights, Know What's Allowed And What's Not (with inputs from agencies)