First Ill Flyer Lands At IGIA, Quarantined

Bangkok passenger isolated after screening at Delhi airport 8 under watch in city, hospitals scramble to scale up facilities

- Shashank Shekhar and Chayyanika Nigam

When passengers from Bangkok-Delhi SpiceJet flight SG-88 were undergoing thermal screening at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) early on Thursday morning, “some unusual readings” sent officials into a tizzy.

The body temperature of an 18year-old male flyer, who had occupied seat 31F and was the only passenger in the row, had triggered a colour palette different from the rest.

The Airport Health Organisation swung into action. The passenger’s first stop was IGIA’s observation section from where he was sent to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital’s isolation ward. His reports are awaited.

The passenger is suspected to have been infected by Coronavirus and was quarantined by the Airport Health Organisation after he landed in Delhi, said a spokesperson of the airline.

This follows last week’s appeal by the Delhi government for the people to stay alert in crowded places.

Of the 40 suspected patients admitted at RML Hospital, 38 have tested negative. Two are still in hospital and their reports are awaited. At Safdarjung Hospital, 23 suspected patients were brought and six are under observation. No positive case has been found in the city.

The scare has forced hospitals into a scramble for scaling up facilities. “We have trained the entire hospital staff with instructions to take all flu cases very seriously,” said Dr Sandeep Nayar, Director and HOD, Centre for Chest & Respiratory Diseases, BLK Super Speciality Hospital.