The Goa government on Monday directed all those who flew on a Vistara flight from Mumbai last week to report to their closest health centre after a passenger tested positive for the coronavirus. The man had travelled from New York to Mumbai and then to Goa on March 22, and tested positive on March 29.
Goa has five cases of Covid-19, the highly contagious disease caused by the coronavirus that has killed 29 patients in India so far. To curb its spread, a suspension of international flights has been in place since March 22, and domestic flights stopped on March 25.
The patient who tested positive for Covid-19 had flown on the Vistara UK-861 flight, the state government said. “Hence, people currently in Goa who had travelled on the said flight are appealed to immediately report to helpline 104, call 0832-2421810/2225538, or report to the nearest Health Centre.”
Vistara has said that it has provided authorities with information that will help them trace the man’s contacts and asked its crew members to go in quarantine. “We have provided all relevant information to the authorities for contact tracing,” a spokesperson for the airline said, according to IANS. “Staff who had operated the flight or come in contact with the passengers have been asked to self-quarantine.”
The national government has extended the ban on international as well as domestic flights till April 14. The country has been under a 21-day lockdown since March 25.
India has more than 1,000 cases of the deadly coronavirus. Across the world, the coronavirus has killed more than 34,000 people and infected 7,35,560 people.
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