2 WB residents return home from Chennai in flight after having tested positive for COVID-19: Minister

Kolkata, Jun 15 () Two West Bengal residents have returned home from Chennai by air after having tested positive for COVID-19, a state minister said on Monday and questioned the Union Civil Aviation Ministry how could they skip medical surveillance at the airport and travel in a plane.

The young men landed in Kolkata on Sunday and visited a dedicated COVID-19 hospital in their home district of East Midnapore on Monday with their test reports for admission, West Bengal Transport Minister Subhendu Adhikari said.

"The two persons were tested on June 12 in a laboratory in Chennai. The reports came positive the next day. They boarded a flight on June 14. How could they skip medical surveillance at the airport? Why were not they admitted to a hospital in Chennai immediately after their reports came positive? They travelled all the way from Chennai in the flight, just imagine how many people got infected during the journey," Adhikari told reporters.

When contacted, a Kolkata airport official said that heath screening at the terminal was being done by officials of the state health department. PNT SNE SMN SMN