A flight from Italy to India that 125 positives were quarantined, 13 of whom ran

【Text/Observer Network Zhou Yibo】

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), on January 5, local time, after a charter flight from Italy to India landed, 125 of the 179 passengers on the plane tested positive for covid-19.

The flight had a technical stop in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Many passengers on board did not understand why they tested positive after arriving in India after getting a negative result in Italy.

Indian officials said all passengers infected with COVID-19 would be quarantined, but 13 of those infected had evaded quarantine, nine of them from the airport and four from local hospitals. Local police said procedures had been initiated to cancel the passports of the escapees.

Ambulance to Amritsar Airport transporting infected people Image: BBC

According to reports, the charter flight from Milan landed in the northern Indian city of Amritsar on wednesday (5th) afternoon, with a total of 179 passengers on board.

After the flight arrived, 160 passengers on the flight, excluding infants and young children, were tested for COVID-19, of which 125 tested positive.

According to media reports such as India's New Delhi Television Station, the flight had a technical stop in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Many passengers on board did not understand why they tested positive after arriving in India after getting a negative result in Italy.

The live video uploaded by overseas netizens showed that many passengers felt unacceptable after getting the test results, emotionally negotiated with airport personnel, and some people directly took off their masks at the scene.

Indian health officials said all passengers infected with the new crown would be quarantined. Video from the scene showed that after the test results were announced, ambulances lined up outside Amritsar Airport to transport infected people to quarantine, and the crowd outside the airport gate was evacuated.

However, some local officials have followed up by saying that 13 of the new crown infected people have escaped isolation, of which 4 have fled from the airport and 9 have escaped from local hospitals.

It is unclear how four of them fled the airport, but local hospitals said the nine infected people who fled the hospital "deceived health officials."

Local police said complaints would be made against all those who evaded quarantine and had initiated procedures to cancel the passports of those who had escaped.

"If they don't come back in the morning, we'll put pictures of them in the newspaper and file a case against them." Amritsar Police Deputy Chief Gurpreet Singh Khehra said.

India reportedly reported more than 100,000 new confirmed cases on January 7, and experts believe that the Omiljung strain is responsible for the sharp increase in confirmed cases in the country recently.

Among them, the Indian states of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jharkhand are considered "emerging states of concern", where the number of new cases and positive test rates have increased sharply each week.

Medical experts and doctors in India fear that a surge in medical demand could still undermine the health care system, especially in the face of multiple state elections in India, which are often accompanied by mass rallies.

Punjab, where Amritsar is located, is one of several states that have revived restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. On January 4, the state imposed a temporary curfew and closed all schools and universities.

In addition, several states, including Delhi and Maharashtra, have reintroduced anti-epidemic restrictions to limit rallies and slow the spread of the virus.

This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.