120 tested for COVID-19 at Mumbai airport on Wednesday, all negative

Mumbai: A Mumbai Airport official has said that a total of 120 domestic arrival passengers at the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport underwent RT-PCR testing on November 25, adding that none of the passengers was found positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

“Total 120 domestic arrival passengers underwent RT-PCR test at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai on 25th November. No passengers were tested positive,” news agency ANI quoted airport’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) as saying.

On Monday, the Maharashtra government had made mandatory a negative RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test report for passengers arriving in the state from Delhi, Gujarat, Goa and Rajasthan amid a rapid surge of Covid-19 cases there, from November 25 onwards. As per the order, passengers arriving by flights should have tested negative 72 hours before scheduled landing in Maharashtra while for those arriving by trains, the corresponding duration was 96 hours.

Those who fail to carry their test reports would undergo RT-PCR testing on arriving at airports or railway stations, the order had further stated. It further said that passengers testing negative would be allowed to leave the airport/railway station while those found positive would be sent to the Covid Care Centres (CCC) but will have to bear the cost themselves.

“The Airports Authority of India is requested to check the report before allowing passengers to board the flight,” the Maharashtra government’s order had stated.

Maharashtra has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country, nearly the double of the next worst-hit state, Karnataka. The state logged a total of 6,159 new cases on Wednesday, which took its tally of cases due to the disease to 1,795,959, a government health bulletin said. The tally in the state capital of Mumbai, one of the worst-hit cities, meanwhile, reached 278,590 with 1,144 new cases on Wednesday.