As many as 125 passengers among 179 who had boarded a flight from Italy and landed in Amritsar yesterday tested positive for COVID, sending waves of panic across the airport.
While 13 of the passengers were from Amritsar, the biggest group of 26 was from Hoshiarpur in the state, 10 from Haryana and one each from Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir.
The chartered flight, owned by New Delhi-based SARC Aviation, landed at Amritsar airport at 4.20 am yesterday.
“We have taken all the 13 passengers to the hospital. There have been instructions from the government to not allow home isolation for international passengers who test positive. They will be observed and treated at the hospital,” said Amritsar Chief Medical Officer Charanjit Singh.