The violation of COVID-19 protocol dangers the likely formation of a virus cluster.
The Chennai airport incident happened during a huge crowd gathered at the entrance stands of Chennai airport after at least two flights from the Gulf came almost the same time.
The numbers of passengers jostling and maintaining no physical distance at the Chennai International Airport earlier today painted a scary picture amid the coronavirus pandemic.
When Gulf region arrived at the same time
The incident happened at a large crowd gathered at the immigration stands of the airport after at least two flights from the Gulf region arrived almost at a similar time.
Videos shared by passengers showed them jostling with each other, giving the protocol of physical distancing a miss.
This violation risks the potential formation of a virus cluster.
Only passengers with RT-PCR negative test reports, obtained 72 hours before boarding, are currently being permitted to board international flights bound for India.
Supposing passengers from certain countries, RT-PCR testing is necessary on arrival too.
Returned from Dammam in Saudi Arabia
Tameem Sheriff, a passenger who returned from Dammam in Saudi Arabia, described the experience as “scary”.
“No proper arrangements were made at the airport for Covid safety while so many restrictions were required,” he said.
Sharing videos of the crowd, he added, “There were just three immigration counters. Just after the passengers protested, they opened two more.”
- When NDTV shared news about the videos and concerns revealed by passengers, airport authorities said the current infrastructure is not designed to provide the Covid challenges. They also blamed the situation on the mandatory RT-PCR testing in some cases.
But, airport director D Sharad Kumar told that changes would be made tonight to avert a repeat. He said, “The Immigration Bureau has allowed opening at least four to five immigration counters from tonight onwards.”
Chennai, which accounted for around 6,500 daily cases when the second wave
peaked in May, now records 200 cases on an average every day.
Tamil Nadu had crossed 38,000 cases when the peak and its tally now hovers around 1,500 cases daily with Coimbatore and Chennai accounting for the largest number of cases in the state.
The state has completely vaccinated only 11.7% of its 6-crore adult population while 46.7% of them have taken a single dose.
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Thank you
source: NDTV
