New Delhi: In a shocking incident that has sent the airport and airlines officials into a tizzy, a West Bengal man who travelled from Delhi to Kolkata via Guwahati was carrying his COVID-19 positive report in his pocket and on arrival in Kolkata insisted on being sent to a quarantine centre. As the officials did not agree as he did not have any symptoms, he produced the COVID-19 report and said, ‘See, this is my COVID-19 result report.”
According to reports, he is a resident of North 24 Parganas. The incident has shown the chinks in the armour of all COVID surveillance in airports, mobile applications etc.
Since West Bengal has barred all flights coming in from Delhi, the man flew to Guwahati and took a flight to West Bengal from Guwahati. On arrival, his temperature was checked. It was normal. But he insisted that he had a cough and so he must be sent to a quarantine centre. The officials checked his temperature again. It was normal again, reports said. The officials also told him that he might have a cough for some different reason. Then the man produced the result of his COVID-19 test in which he tested positive.
Officials have been pressed into contact tracing as he travelled in two flights to reach Kolkata from Delhi. It has been found out that two days before he boarded the Guwahati flight from Delhi, he tested positive — the information that he suppressed. “Maybe while he booked the tickets, he was not aware of his COVID-19, but when he boarded the plane, he was aware. A self-declaration form has to be filled in which he must have lied about his test,” an airport official said.
