271 passengers tested in 3 days at airport, only nine Covid-19 +ve

Three days since the state government issued orders making it mandatory for flight passengers arriving from Delhi, Gujarat and Jaipur to carry a Covid-19 negative report, 271 passengers have been tested at Pune’s Lohegaon airport. Of those tested, nine have been found Covid-19 positive in the RT-PCR tests.

On the first day, 130 flight passengers did not have a negative RT-PCR report with them and so, they were tested, of which six tested Covid-19 positive. On the second day, of the 63 tested for Covid-19, only two tested positive and on the third day, of the 78 passengers who were tested, only one had been Covid-19 positive. All these were RT-PCR tests as per the guidelines issued by the state government and most of the passengers were asymptomatic. Passengers coming in flights from Mumbai or Pune from Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujrat and Goa will be subjected to mandatory testing. An RT-PCR negative test report (with the sample collection done within 72 hours of scheduled arrival) is a must before boarding which needs to be shown to authorities before arrival.

Shravan Mutha, Covid-19 manager at the airport kiosk of Krsnaa Diagnostics, said, “Most of the patients arriving from these three cities are subjected to testing if they do not have a negative RT-PCR report. All the tests are conducted only through RT-PCR as per the state government guidelines. Once the reports come, and they test positive, we inform the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for further action like contact tracing and isolation.”

Kuldeep Singh, airport director, said, “All the necessary precautions are in place for testing. The sample collection centre has been completely sanitised and social distancing is maintained. The precautions have been put in place and all the passengers are handed blank forms which seek address and contact details.”