Two passengers suspected with coronavirus put in isolation at Kolkata airport

Novel coronavirus: Two passengers who arrived at Kolkata international airport on Thursday have been placed in isolation for suspected coronavirus. The passengers flew in from Bangkok. A Kolkata airport official said that both the passengers have been sent to Beliaghata ID Hospital. 

Earlier, a passenger onboard a SpiceJet flight from Bangkok was quarantined over fear of coronavirus in Delhi on Thursday.

Before that, two individuals - Himadri Barman and Nagendra Singh - were quarantined on Tuesday and Wednesday as per government officials in Delhi. Additionally, another passenger called Anita Oraon had shown signs of fever during thermal scanning in Kolkata, as per airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee.

So far, two airlines - IndiGo and China Eastern Airlines - with direct flight between Kolkata and China have suspended their flights.

IndiGo that suspended its flights to Guangzhou from February 6 said the flights have been suspended till February 26. They said they move comes in line with the WHO guideline to contain spread of coronavirus. 

China Eastern Airlines suspended its flights between Kolkata and Kunming from February 10 to February 29.

Passengers of flights coming to Kolkata from Kunming and Guangzhou in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok are being screened since January 17. At present, passengers arriving from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok are being screened as no flights are operating to and from China.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China has risen to 1,367, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Thursday. There were 15,152 new confirmed infection cases across mainland China bringing the total to 59,804, it said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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