Punjab: 125 passengers flying in from Italy test COVID-19 positive at Amritsar airport

In a major upsurge in COVID cases, 125 passengers flying in from Italy were found infected with the Coronavirus at Punjab’s Amritsar airport. Speaking to news agency ANI, Amritsar airport director VK Singh said on Thursday that the plane was carrying 179 passengers in total and all of them were tested at the airport upon arrival. In the pictures shared by ANI, a heavy crowd was seen at the airport gate and a number of ambulances were lined up at the spot. 

It is worth mentioning that Italy has been put under the category of  "at-risk" countries by India's Health Ministry. The Twitter handle of Amritsar Airport had shared a tweet with a caption that read, "Team #AmritsarAirport is committed to provide safe environment to our esteemed passengers. Listen to a happy passenger as he narrates his experience after landing at #Amritsar (sic)."

COVID in Punjab

The latest jump in cases has added to the already rising numbers as Punjab reported 1,811 new patients while four of them succumbed to the infection. In just one day, active cases in Punjab have surged to 4,434 from 2,686, raising the positivity rate in the state to 7.95% from 6.49%. However, 44 people recovered from the infection taking the total number of recoveries to 5,87,632. Meanwhile, India recorded 495 new Omicron cases on Thursday. 

Image: Twitter/@ANI, Shutterstock