Goa: 50 flight passengers test negative for coronavirus

Samples of 50 passengers who arrived in Goa by domestic flights have tested negative for coronavirus infection, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Tuesday. Three flights - two from Delhi and one from Bengaluru ferried 91 passengers to Goa on Monday, the first day of resumption of domestic air services.

After their arrival, samples of 50 passengers were tested and results of all of them came out negative, the minister said. The remaining 41 passengers were home quarantined and their health was being monitored by authorities, he said. The standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the Goa government lays down that arriving passengers need to have a COVID-19 negative certificate from an ICMR-accredited lab, or must pay Rs 2,000 for testing or spend 14 days in home quarantine.

"Those travellers who are carrying COVID-19 negative certificate from ICMR-approved labs would be exempted from checking at the state border. Others will have to get themselves tested for COVID-19 by paying Rs 2,000. Those who don't want to be tested will have to stay in home quarantine for 14 days," Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Sunday.

He said this SOP will be applicable to all those coming to Goa by flights, trains, road or water routes. Meanwhile, Rane said two out of the 48 COVID-19 patients, who were undergoing treatment at a hospital in the state, have been discharged after recovery. Both the patients have been shifted to a quarantine facility where their health will be monitored for 14 days. With this, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the coastal state is now 46, Rane said. Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases- 67, deaths-nil, discharged-21, active cases 46.