IndiGo passenger travelling to Coimbatore found Covid-19 positive

On the first day of resumption of domestic flight services across India, a passenger travelling aboard an IndiGo flight from Chennai to Coimbatore was found to be Covid-19 positive.

This is the first case of a passenger being detected on board an aircraft in domestic sector

The coronavirus positive case was reported on the Chennai-Coimbatore IndiGo flight 6E 381.

The case was discovered during testing at the Coimbatore airport.

IndiGo confirmed the incident saying that no passenger was seated near the person and the crew operating the aircraft has been grounded and been asked to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

"He was seated on-board the aircraft with all precautionary measures including face mask, face shield and gloves, as were the other passengers. Additionally, no one else was seated in his vicinity, significantly reducing the possibility of transmission. All our aircraft are regularly sanitized as a standard operating procedure, and the aircraft operating this flight was also immediately disinfected as per protocol," the airline said in a statement.

Initially, the passenger was put under institutional quarantine at the Vinayak Hotel in Coimbatore. Now he has been admitted to the ESI hospital.

"The person's test report came today in the morning. All passengers who proceeded to other districts and those who belonged to Coimbatore were asked to remain in institutional quarantine. All the passengers are tested and only if found negative, they are allowed to proceed for home quarantine," said R Mahalingam, airport director of Coimbatore airport.

They passengers were allowed to choose any one of the institutions arranged by the district administration or opt for a paid quarantine in hotels of their choice.