172 more flyers from Italy test positive on arrival at Shri Guru Ram Das Jee Airport

Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, January 7

As many as 172 of the 285 passengers, who arrived from Italy at Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport here, tested positive for Covid-19 today.

Lab to be Inspected

Of the 285 passengers, 172 tested positive. These test results raise a question mark on the functioning of the lab. We have asked the airport authorities to inspect the private lab. Moreover, 75 passengers are being re-tested in other labs. — Dr Charanjit Singh, Civil Surgeon

The Rome-Amritsar flight arrived around 11.30 am today. Yesterday, of the 179 passengers on the Rome-Amritsar flight, 125 had tested positive

Many of the passengers, who tested positive, protested against the authorities alleging faulty testing system and refusing to be admitted to government hospitals. The passengers claimed that before boarding the flight, they had tested negative in Italy.

Reacting to the charges of passengers, Amritsar Civil Surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh on Friday evening ordered inspection of the private lab operating at the airport.

“Of the 285 passengers, 172 tested positive. These test results raise a question on the functioning of the laboratory that how so many passengers tested positive on the second day consecutively. We have asked the airport authorities for inspection of the private lab. Moreover, 75 passengers are being re-tested in other laboratories,” said the Civil Surgeon.

Meanwhile, the district administration today traced all Italy-returned 13 passengers, hailing from Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, who had escaped from the airport and hospital yesterday.

Of the 13 patients, three have been admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital due to lack of separate rooms and bathrooms in their houses, while the rest have been isolated in their houses, said the Civil Surgeon. 

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