Coronavirus: All 321 passengers from London who landed at KIA test asymptomatic on arrival

All 321 passengers who arrived from London were found to be asymptomatic on arrival except a 27-year-old woman who had had an incomplete abortion and had vomiting. She has been shifted to KC General Hospital in Malleshwaram.

Dr Prabhu Dev Gowda, the officer on duty for Covid-19 screening at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), told DH, "A 27-year-old woman has had an incomplete abortion of her three-month-old foetus before taking the flight from London. She was vomiting on arrival. She was shifted to Aster CMI Hospital for emergency care. Thereafter, she and her husband were shifted to KC General Hospital in Malleshwaram. They will be in isolation there. Since there is nobody to look after her, we have to let the husband accompany her to the hospital where they will be in quarantine."

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

The patient was famished and was provided with a few idlis on arrival, he added. After she recovers at the hospital, the couple will be shifted to a hotel. As per protocol, their throat swabs were taken for Covid-19 testing too. All passengers whether symptomatic or not are being tested for Covid-19.

Dr Manjula Devi, District Health Officer, Bengaluru Rural district said that all passengers were found to be asymptomatic on arrival except this woman who is being treated as a non-Covid-19 emergency.

Ajit Kumar S, Devanahalli Tahsildar told DH, "All passengers have chosen to go to hotels. We are processing 20 requests at a time." As per protocol, the last three rows on the flight were left empty to isolate anyone who showed symptoms on the flight.

Also read — Coronavirus: First evacuation flight from London lands at Kempegowda International Airport

Detailed medical check on arrival

Passengers upon arrival underwent checks for temperature, blood oxygen saturation, and heart rate. All asymptomatic people were stamped with the message, "Proud to protect Karnataka. Facility quarantine."

The Air India and KIA officials had ensured that all passengers adhere to social distancing rules at the time of embarking the plane. "Two rows were asked to exit at a time to ensure social distancing at every step. Due to this, it took almost an hour since the landing to disembark from the plane," explained a traveller.

As soon as the passengers reached the terminal, the health officials handed them over a new set of masks and returnees were asked to change their old masks. All passengers were given SIM cards provided by the local telecom service providers enabling quick download of three mobile apps—Arogya Setu, Quarantine Watch, and Apthamitra.

Baggage disinfected

While the officials had ensured a greater degree of medical screening for returnees, their baggage was also thoroughly scanned and disinfected using a disinfectant solution. "The baggage was sprayed with disinfectant before being handed over to us. From the entry point of the terminal to till the bus-stand, the walking path was barricaded and was sanitized after every movement. The KIA staff donning PPEs head to toe also cleaned chairs after every passenger left for booking hotels," yet another traveller explained.

BMTC buses carried passengers to hotels

Helping all passengers reach their chosen hotels in various areas of Bengaluru, BMTC officials had arranged 16 buses. "The crew of the buses were donning PPEs. Only 20 passengers will be allowed to travel on a bus along with a health official, hotel staff," an official said.

A 26-year-old student passenger Meghana Manjunath told DH the driver's cabin was separated from the passengers' area with a big tarpaulin sheet." While there were counters to help passengers choose from a range of hotels, Meghana tweeted, "There was no choice of the hotel provided. You get to choose which category and a hotel will be assigned to you. As of now, it's Keys Hotel, Whitefield, for three-star and Taj Yeshwantpur for five-star."

Budget hotel Fab Lotus Hotel has 40 passengers, three-star hotel Keys, Whitefield, has 173 passengers, and five-star Taj hotel has 106 passengers housed there.

A BBMP official told DH, "A total of 83 hotels with about 2,565 rooms have been reserved for Overseas returnees to undergo institutional quarantine across Bengaluru. Among these 18 hotels are five-star, 25 belong to the three-star category and 40 budget hotels." According to the SOP, quarantine centres are medically supervised 24/7.