Five foreign flights' passengers diagnose corona positive at Karachi airport

KARACHI: Five passengers of two international flights landed at the Jinnah International Airport diagnosed COVID-19 positive, quoting airport officials ARY News reported on Wednesday.

During medical check up of the passengers of overseas flights, five of them detected coronavirus positive, the airport administration has confirmed.

All five coronavirus positive passengers were shifted to the federal government’s quarantine facility at Karachi’s Bhittai Abad.

Two passengers of flight 151 from Dubai and three passengers of flight 329 from Riyadh were diagnosed coronavirus positive in rapid antigen test conducted by the health officials at the airport.

A passenger of an international flight in Islamabad also diagnosed coronavirus positive in rapid antigen test today.

Pakistan has reduced the number of international flights into and out of its airports by 80% to help curb rising COVID-19 cases.

The restrictions come into effect from May 5 (today) and will run to May 20, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

The controls will be reviewed on May 18, the government said in a statement endorsed by the National Command Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees Pakistan’s response to the pandemic.

All international passengers upon arrival at Pakistani airports on remaining services would be required to undergo rapid antigen testing (RAT) and will also have to show an RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours before boarding a Pakistan-bound flight.

Passengers with a negative COVID test will still undergo self-quarantine at home for 10 days, and those found positive will be shifted to a self-paid facility for the same period of time. Inbound passengers will also need to download an app on to their phones to help monitor their movements.