1,502 international passengers tested for Covid at 11 airports on Wed

A total of 1,502 international passengers were tested for COVID-19 at 11 AAI-run airports on Wednesday and none of them was found positive, according to an official statement.

Major airports, including those in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, are run by private companies and not by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The AAI, which works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, owns and operates more than 100 airports across the country.

Eleven AAI airports operated 64 international flights on Wednesday. "Seven international flights arrived from 'at risk countries' and 57 from 'non at risk countries'," the AAI wrote on Twitter.

A total of 1,502 passengers were tested at these airports, it added.

"Out of the total number of passengers, 311 passengers were tested through rapid RT-PCR test and 1,191 passengers through RT-PCR test. None found positive," the AAI said.

According to an update issued by the health ministry on November 30, the "at-risk" list includes countries in Europe including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China and Mauritius.

Other countries in the list are New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

The Centre had earlier this week asked the states and Union territories to ensure RT-PCR tests for travellers coming from the "at-risk" countries on the first day of arrival and a re-test on the eighth day.