Amritsar: AAI orders probe after more than 170 passengers test COVID positive at airport

A major controversy has erupted in Punjab after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) ordered a probe against a Delhi-based laboratory that had tested several incoming passengers from Italy COVID positive in Amritsar.  

At least 173 passengers on a Rome-Amritsar charter flight were found to be COVID-positive after being tested on arrival on Friday, the second consecutive incident where a large number of passengers were found to be infected upon arrival. 

On January 6, 125 passengers flying in from Italy were found infected with the Coronavirus at the Amritsar airport out of the 179 passengers that the plane was carrying. A heavy crowd was seen at the airport gate and a number of ambulances were lined up at the spot to whisk them away.

Passengers allege test reports were incorrect

After receiving their results, several passengers alleged that their test reports were 'incorrect' as they had tested negative hours before boarding the flight. They also raised questions on the testing practice adopted by the lab and several even tested negative in a re-test later. When passengers created ruckus at the Shri Guru Ramdas International Airport, the AAI ordered an investigation into the matter. For now, the airport authority has replaced the services of the Delhi-based laboratory with a local lab, officials told PTI. Services of this Delhi-based lab in question were engaged on December 15, 2021, by the Airports Authority of India. 

"A probe has been initiated by the Airports Authority of India against the alleged errant working of the lab. The services of the existing Delhi-based lab has been suspended and new local lab has resumed its working at the airport," Assistant Civil Surgeon Dr. Amarjit Singh was quoted as saying by PTI. 

Amid the Omicron surge across India and the world, the Union Health Ministry has made it compulsory for all passengers coming from "at-risk" countries to India to get compulsorily tested for COVID-19 on arrival at their respective airports and has made seven-day home quarantine compulsory for all international arrivals. Along with Italy, all European nations have been deemed as "at-risk" countries by the Union Health Ministry. 

(With agency inputs)