Health staff works overnight to test passengers from UK

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 22

After the reports of a new strain of Covid-19 virus in the UK, the health teams remained busy testing passengers of a flight from the UK throughout the night after the plane landed at 12.05 am here on Tuesday. Though the administration had issued an advisory to the relatives of passengers regarding the mandatory Covid-19 testing, a large number of them arrived at the airport to receive the passengers.

The department had claimed that the passengers would be allowed to leave the airport only after their test reports are available, which could take seven to eight hours. However, due to a large number of passengers, the administration had a tough time pacifying passengers who were adamant on leaving the airport at the earliest.

The health officials said the government had decided on the RT-PCR test for incoming passengers as its reports were more accurate than the other tests. The officials said the RT-PCR test reports take more time than other tests as a result of which passengers and their relatives had to wait.

Civil Surgeon Dr RS Sethi said eight of the total 264 passengers had tested positive. He said patients include six males and two females. The positive patients have been kept under institutional quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus.

Dr Sethi said four teams of health employees were deployed at airport to collect samples. He said usually the test reports were available after 24 hours, but the employees working overnight as a team managed to achieve the target in almost 13 hours.

The news reports regarding the new strain of the deadly virus being circulated on news and the social media platforms have also worried the residents. The Health Department officials said residents should not panic but must take ample precautions while going out of their homes.