UK passenger, who fled Delhi after testing COVID+, traced to Rajahmundry

A passenger, who had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from the UK, has been traced to Andhra Pradesh’s Rajahmundry after disappearing from Delhi airport along with her son. The samples of the woman, who had disappeared after receiving her test results, have been sent for genome sequencing to identify if she was infected with the new strain of the virus that has alarmed the authorities following its emergence in the UK.

The mother-son duo had left the capital city on Tuesday and were found in Rajahmundry on Thursday (December 24) morning. The duo’s whereabouts was determined from the details of their train travel given by district authorities from Delhi.

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Health officials received the duo at Rajahmundry Railway station and said that the woman is asymptomatic and doing well in an isolation ward at a district hospital while her son will be tested on Thursday. Officials said they’ll be questioning the woman about why she chose to leave Delhi instead of quarantining herself, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Five other COVID-19 positive flyers from the UK, apart from the woman, had disappeared after landing at the Delhi airport on Tuesday. Three of them were traced by Tuesday night and admitted to a Delhi hospital while one other tried to go to Ludhiana but was brought back on Wednesday.

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According to the Centre’s new SOP, COVID-19 positive passengers from the UK must be shifted to an isolation unit, and their samples be sent for genome sequencing.