The patients were admitted to Amritsar's Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (File)
13 passengers who tested positive for Covid after landing in Amritsar earlier today have run away from the hospital, authorities said. They allegedly tricked the health officials and fled, they said this evening.
The patients were admitted to Amritsar's Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.
"We will initiate proceedings to cancel their passport," Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Khehra told NDTV.
"If they don't return by morning, we will publish their photos in the newspaper," he warned, adding, FIRs under the Epidemic Act and the Disaster Management Act will be registered against them.
"We are trying our best to keep our district away from the disease and negligence of patients will not be tolerated at any cost," Mr Khera said.
179 passengers, including 19 children, landed in Amritsar from Milan around 1:30 pm today on a chartered flight. Of them, 125 tested positive for coronavirus upon arrival. All Covid positive passengers were sent to institutional quarantine.
All adult passengers were tested on arrival since Italy is one of the high-risk countries for Omicron, according to the Union Health Ministry.
The chartered flight - reportedly operated by EuroAtlantic Airways, a Portuguese company - had made a technical halt at Tbilisi, according to officials.
Chaotic visuals emerged from the Amritsar airport as the police tried to control the crowd waiting to leave the airport. Many questioned why they tested positive after Covid negative results in Italy.