Delhi couple with quarantine seal deboarded from Rajdhani; Railways urge avoid non-essential travel

A couple was deboarded from a Delhi-bound Rajdhani train on Saturday after co-passengers noticed a home quarantine seal on the husband's hand, the Railways said, urging people to avoid non-essential travel for the safety of fellow citizens amid a spurt in coronavirus cases.

It said the Delhi-based couple boarded the Bangalore City-New Delhi Rajdhani at Secunderabad Saturday morning. When the train reached Kazipet in Telangana at 9:45 am a co-passenger noticed the quarantine mark — authorities are putting on suspected coronavirus cases — on the husband's hand. The woman too had the home quarantine seal.

Their co-passengers then informed the TTE on board the train, the national transporter said. The train was briefly detained and the couple was admitted to a hospital. The coach was completely sanitised in Kazipet and was locked, officials said. The air conditioning was also switched off. The train left for its destination at 11.30 am.

The Railways has reported two other incidents when people asked to remain in home quarantine were found travelling on trains. Of the total people detected in the two instances, 12 later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Urging people to maintain social distancing, Railways said it has found four passengers who travelled in B1 coach of 11055 Godan Express from Mumbai to Jabalpur on March 16 tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. "They came to India from Dubai last week. All concerned have been alerted to take necessary action," it said in a tweet.

In another case, eight passengers who travelled on AP Sampark Kranti Express from Delhi to Ramagundam on March 13 tested positive for the virus on Friday. "Passengers are advised to avoid non-essential travel for the safety of fellow citizens," the Railways urged. The Health Ministry said Saturday morning that the number coronavirus cases in India has risen to 258. However, according to ICMR 271 individuals have been confirmed positive among the suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases.

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