Air passenger who took Bengaluru-Madurai flight tests positive for COVID-19

An asymptomatic passenger who took an IndiGo Bengaluru-Madurai flight on Wednesday was found positive for COVID-19 during mandatory testing on the same day at a quarantine facility in Madurai, the airline said on Thursday.

Domestic passenger flights resumed in India from Monday. Since then, five passengers of three different airlines have tested positive for COVID-19.

"An asymptomatic passenger who travelled on IndiGo on 6E 7214 from Bangalore to Madurai on May 27, 2020 was discovered to be COVID-19 positive during the mandatory testing at the quarantine facility in Madurai on 27th May," the airline said in its statement.

The passenger had observed all precautionary measures, including wearing face mask, face shield and gloves, like other passengers on the aircraft, IndiGo added.

"All our aircraft are regularly sanitized as a standard operating procedure, and the aircraft operating these flights were immediately disinfected as per protocol," the airline said.

"The operating crew has been home quarantined for 14 days and we are in the process of notifying other passengers as per the government guidelines, to ensure safety of our passengers and staff," it added.

SpiceJet had said on Wednesday that two of its passengers who travelled from Ahmedabad to Guwahati via Delhi on Monday tested positive for COVID-19.

On Tuesday, IndiGo had said that a passenger who travelled on flight 6E 381 from Chennai to Coimbatore on Monday evening tested positive for the disease.

Air India had stated on Wednesday that a passenger who was on an Alliance Air flight from the national capital to Ludhiana tested positive for coronavirus and a total of 41 people, including five crew members, had been quarantined.