Punjab: 150 international travellers from Italy test Covid positive

Italy identified as an 'at risk' country by Union Health Ministry

AAI repoets that 2,437 international passengers were screened for Covid-19 upon arrival at 10 airports on January 6.: File picture

TT Bureau And Agencies   |   Chandigarh   |  07.01.22:  As many as another 150 international passengers from Italy have tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Punjab. The passengers flew to Amritsar from Rome in an aircraft with 290 people on board, India Today reported.

The patients are likely to be shifted to isolation wards set up in hospitals across the city as per protocol.

Earlier on Thursday, 125 people who arrived at Amritsar airport on a charter flight in Italy were found infected with the novel coronavirus. The charter flight (YU-661) was operated by Portuguese company EuroAtlantic Airways, India Today added.

Italy has been identified as an "at risk" country by the Union Health Ministry, which means that all international passengers flying to India from Italy are tested for Covid-19 upon arrival.

According to India Today reports, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has revealed that a total of 2,437 international passengers were screened for Covid-19 upon arrival at 10 airports managed by the AAI on January 6. As many as 140 of those passengers tested positive for the infection, the AAI added.

The list of 'at-risk' countries has also been expanded as the list now includes all European countries including the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Israel, Congo, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia and Zambia.