Bengal govt identifies 8 passengers travelled with Kerala Coronavirus affected student

Kolkata, Fe 03: West Bengal government has identified eight passengers who travelled with the Kerala students down with coronavirus after the centre on Sunday issued a new travel advisory that anyone with travel history of China since January 15 can be quarantined.

According to a senior official, on Sunday, the West Bengal Health Department had traced eight passengers who had travelled in the same flight in which the coronavirus-affected Kerala student returned to India. The flight landed at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on January 23.

As per the report, these eight passengers were seated in the two rows in front and back of the Kerala resident's seat.

However, the two passengers, who had landed in Kolkata were identified as residents of Asansol and Odisha.

West Bengal Director of Health Services Ajay Kumar Chakraborty said that the other six passengers were also identified on Sunday.

Besides this, it was also confirmed that three passengers travelled in that flight, sitting either in the front or the back four seats of the virus affected-Kerala resident were identified as Chinese nationals.

On Sunday, the centre's decision of issuing a new travel advisory was taken at a high-level review meeting held by the Cabinet Secretary on the preparedness to deal with novel coronavirus which has now spread to 25 countries.

According to PTI, on Sunday, a total number of 58,658 passengers from 445 flights have been screened for nCoV symptom.

And a total of 142 symptomatic travellers have been identified by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and have been referred to the isolation facilities.