17 foreign returnees turn Covid +ve at Delhi airport under random tests

At present, no guidelines have been issued for isolating Covid-19 patients in India. So foreign returnees are allowed to leave after their samples are collected at airports, a doctor said. If results are positive, the concerned district level teams will contact them and ask them to stay in home isolation.

New Delhi: At least 17 foreign returnees tested Covid-19 positive at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport since random sampling began on Wednesday. This has come after the Central government ordered to carry out 2 per cent random sampling of international travellers at various airports across the country.

As per the new restrictions, all passengers from high-risk countries such as China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand have to produce a negative report on arrival here.

According to Dr Gauri Agarwal, founder of Genstrings Diagnostic Center, who is testing at the airport, complete details of all passengers screened at the airport are maintained to track them in case the report turns out positive. At present, no guidelines have been issued for isolating Covid-19 patients. So travellers are allowed to leave after their samples are collected. Once the results are positive, the concerned district level teams will contact them and ask them to stay in home isolation.

After the new variant BF.7 of Corona has come to the fore, states have strengthened their surveillance with mock drills at hospitals. In view of the sudden surge in coronavirus infections, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia assured that hospitals, and medical and paramedical staff of the Delhi government are fully prepared to deal with this epidemic.

Sisodia instructed the hospital in-charges to maintain a full stock of all essential medicines in order to avoid shortage and also released an additional fund of Rs 104 crore to the health directorate.

Meanwhile, the passengers from Myanmar, who tested Covid-19 positive four days ago, were discharged from the hospital. A group of 11 tourists had arrived from Myanmar here on Sunday, out of which four had tested positive. Samples of Covid-19 positive passengers are further sent for genome sequencing to confirm the Covid variant.