Amaravati: 8 co-passengers of UK returnee test negative

Amaravati: Eight passengers, who travelled by the first AC coach on AP Express with a Covid positive UK woman returnee, from New Delhi to Visakhapatnam, tested negative for the virus on Friday.

Health authorities conducted RT-PCR tests on these passengers, including two children, upon their arrival in Visakhapatnam as they shared the coach in which the UK-returned woman travelled after testing positive for coronavirus, though she was found to be asymptomatic.

The UK returnee managed to give the slip to authorities in New Delhi and reach AP by train but was picked up from Rajamahendravaram and admitted to a hospital along with her son. The health authorities traced the other passengers of the first AC coach in Visakhapatnam and conducted swab tests on Thursday, which turned out negative, the Andhra Medical College authorities said.

Deputy Chief Minister (health) Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas told reporters here on Thursday that the 47-year-old woman tested positive for Covid-19 but was asymptomatic. Her 22-year-old son, however, tested negative for the virus, he said.

Preliminary tests on the woman did not reveal the new Covid-19 strain and they were awaiting results from the National Institute of Virology.