Air India security staff on board Delhi-Ludhiana flight tests positive for Covid-19

A 50-year-old Air India security staff, who was among the eleven people on board a Delhi-Ludhiana flight on Monday, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Air India confirms that samples of his co-passengers are tested negative.

A total of 116 samples were taken on Monday, when the domestic flight operation began after two months of coronavirus lockdown.

Test reports of 114 people were received out of which one was positive, Ludhiana civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga told media.

The infected person is a resident of Delhi and works as security staff with Air India, Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Agrawal said, adding he arrived on May 25 by a domestic flight at the Sahnewal Airport.

The infected staffer was sent to a local isolation centre, while the others were sent on mandatory home quarantine.

Meanwhile, a passenger on a Chennai-Coimbatore IndiGo flight has also tested positive for coronavirus. The company has grounded the entire crew for 14 days.

The centre last week allowed one-third of domestic flights to operate from yesterday. All international scheduled commercial passenger flights will remain suspended, it had said.

Several states had asked the centre to defer its decision to allow domestic operation amid the rising number of coronavirus cases.

Maharashtra on Sunday allowed flights in worst-hit Mumbai, hours after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the state needed more time.

The Health Ministry on Sunday issued guidelines for domestic travel, advising passengers to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices and asking states to ensure thermal screening at the departure point of airports, railway stations and bus terminals.

It has also made seven-day paid institutional quarantine mandatory for those returning from coronavirus hotspots.

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