Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Two passengers of Air India’s Dubai-Indore flight, which landed here at midnight on Wednesday night, created a ruckus at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar airport. They were arguing over why they were being chosen and stopped for random testing of corona under the new rules of the ministry of health. However, upon being explained about the rules, both calmed down and left after a rapid PCR test being conducted.
Amid the scare of the new corona variant, Omicron, the Union health ministry issued guidelines on Wednesday for passengers arriving from abroad. According to the guidelines, certain nations— along with European countries—have been declared ‘risk countries’. The RTPCR test has been made mandatory for passengers coming from abroad and randomly selected passengers are to undergo the test at the airport upon arrival in India. At the same time, this test has been made mandatory for two per cent of the passengers coming from other countries. The rule came into force on Wednesday. The rule was followed for the Dubai flight, as well, which was carrying 93 passengers.
As two of these passengers were selected by the airlines for a test, they were furious. They were accompanied by their relatives. They said they had brought their RT-PCR negative report with them and they were healthy, so why were they being tested? The passengers also took objections to being stopped and asked why not the rest of the passengers?
The investigation was conducted after an uproar that lasted more than half an hour. They were informed about the Centre’s rules. The passengers were told they could get their RT-PCR test done, which would cost them Rs 680, and the report would come within six hours. At the same time, a rapid PCR test could also be done, which would cost them Rs 3,450 and whose report would be available within half an hour. After much deliberation, both the passengers got ready for the rapid PCR test. When the reports of both came negative within half an hour, they left.
