Covid keeps 70 Aussies off 1st repatriation flight from India

Melbourne, May 14

Several Australians in India who were scheduled to return home by a repatriation flight initiated by the Australian government were grounded on Friday because either they were infected with Covid-19 or were considered a close contact of someone who was positive, a top Australian diplomat said.

The repatriation flights facilitated by the Australian government for its stranded citizens in India resumed from Friday following a two weeks ban due to Covid health crisis in India.

“Many passengers on the first flight on Friday were grounded due to Covid-19 positive test results,” Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell was quoted as saying by the ABC News.

Countrywide e-OPD by military doctors

New Delhi: Retired military doctors have come forward to provide free consultation on a web-based platform. Called ‘e-Sanjeevani’, the service is available at www.esanjeevaniopd.in. It functions like an OPD with an aim to provide free medical consultation to citizens across India. TNS

About half of the 150 seats on the flight set to leave New Delhi on Friday night will be left empty after more than 40 people tested positive to the virus, meaning they and their close contacts — a total of about 70 people — cannot fly, the report said.

O’Farrell said people who were signed to go on the flight were all put up in hotels, paid for by the state-run Qantas Airways, so that they could do the first round of pre-flight testing, and that the results of the second round had not come back yet.

The high commissioner said all passengers were made aware of the increased testing rules required to fly back to Australia.

“Obviously, I'm disappointed, as are those Australians who will not be on today's flight,” he said.

O'Farrell said anyone who had tested positive would still be considered vulnerable and be given priority on future flights. — PTI

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