New Delhi:
13 passengers who tested positive for Covid earlier today after landing in Amritsar have walked away from the hospital, authorities said. They allegedly defrauded health officials and fled, they said tonight.
The patients were admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar.
“We will start proceedings to revoke their passports,” Amritsar’s deputy commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khehra told DailyExpertNews.
“If they don’t come back tomorrow, we will publish their photos in the paper,” he warned, adding that FIRs will be registered against them under the Epidemic Act and the Disaster Management Act.
“We are doing our best to keep our district away from the disease and patient negligence will be tolerated at any cost,” Mr Khera said.
179 passengers, including 19 children, landed in Amritsar from Milan around 1:30 PM today on a chartered flight. Of them, 125 tested positive for the coronavirus on arrival. All Covid positive passengers were sent to institutional quarantine.
All adult passengers were tested on arrival, as Italy is one of the high-risk countries for Omicron, according to the Ministry of Health.
The chartered flight — reportedly operated by EuroAtlantic Airways, a Portuguese company — had come to a technical halt in Tbilisi, officials said.
Chaotic images emerged from Amritsar airport as police tried to control the crowd waiting to exit the airport. Many wondered why they tested positive after Covid negative results in Italy.