Passengers on a flight from the UK have said they were not informed of the Covid rule changes
New Delhi:
Around midnight on Friday, a tense 34-second video emerged from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport, where nearly 250 UK passengers have been held since their flight landed at 10.30am, amid fury over what they say is confusion created by last minute changes to Covid testing and isolation rules.
The revised rules, tweeted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after Air India Flight AI 112 left London, require all passengers to undergo a seven-day institutional quarantine (and an equal period of home isolation) even if they return negative RT-PCR tests.
It also requires passengers, some of whom used Twitter to point out that they were traveling with babies, undergo additional RT-PCR tests (they had already been screened before boarding London) and be prepared to spend up to 10 hours inside. the airport.
Video that appeared late Friday showed a crowd of angry passengers gathered around a desk manned by police and airport officials. Over the screams and screams born of frustration is a man’s voice: “We can’t take this shit anymore.”
Another passenger, a woman, can be heard saying, “I want to (not clear) right now.”
A third voice, another male, can be heard saying, “She is only one year old (referring to her son). She can’t take this anymore.”
As tempers rage, the female officer at the counter also begins yelling and pointing fingers at the passengers. Then some police officers cautiously try to calm the crowd as the female officer wakes her hand and returns to the office.
Passengers say they were not informed of the changes to the testing and isolation rules
The notification that caused the confusion was issued after an appeal Thursday by Kejriwal, asking the center to extend the flight ban (enforced for fear of the spread of the new mutant strain) from the UK until 31st. January, failed.
At 2.30pm on Friday, Mr. Kejriwal tweeted the revised rules.
Passengers say they were not informed of the changes, but Air India tweeted to say that pre-flight announcements were made and 20 people dropped out due to the changes to the guidelines.
#FlyAI : The NCT government of Delhi ordered additional measures in its latest guidelines for passengers arriving from the UK. “All travelers coming from the United Kingdom (United Kingdom) to India as of 08/01/21 must undergo self-pay RTPCR tests upon arrival at the airport. (1/6) pic.twitter.com/JpE5T3e8qg
– Air India (@airindiain) January 8, 2021
Covid test results on passengers and crew on the flight that landed on Friday morning, the first since the ban was lifted, confirmed that 222 were negative for the virus.
Results for 32 others are still awaited. Two people tested positive, although genetic sequencing is needed to confirm whether they are infected with the UK strain.
The total number of active Covid cases in the national capital is around 4,200. So far, more than a dozen of these have tested positive for the UK variant.
Across India, the number of active cases stood at 2.25 lakh on Friday morning, of which around 82 were from the British variant of the virus.
The center suspended flight services between the UK and India on December 23. India lifted the ban, but major European countries, such as France, Spain and Germany, did not.
Also on Friday night, London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” in the UK capital, saying that one in 30 people had COVID-19.
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