New COVID strain: 970 passengers arrive at Mumbai international airport, 489 quarantined

MUMBAI: As many as 970 passengers landed at the Mumbai international airport from different parts of the world including Europe and the Middle-East on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Of them, 489 were quarantined in the city.

The passengers arrived by eight international flights during the day.

Since the detection of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK, institutional quarantine has been made mandatory for all arrivals from Europe and the Middle-East.

Three out of eight flights arrived from Europe and Middle East countries, carrying a total of 120 passengers.

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Of them, 32 were kept in institutional quarantine in Mumbai.

Six passengers were exempted, said municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal.

"Two people were above 80 years of age, two were pregnant ladies and two others were exempted on account of medical emergency," he said.

The rest were allowed to travel to other states.

Flights from the UK have already been suspended.