173 more passengers from Rome test Covid positive

Amritsar: More than 170 out of 285 passengers on a chartered flight from Rome, which landed in Amritsar on Friday, tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival, the airport director said.

This comes a day after 125 out of 179 passengers, who returned to the city, also from Italy's capital, and who were also on a chartered flight, were found positive for the infection.

Giving details, airport director VK Seth said, "173 of total 285 passengers who returned from Rome, Italy, have tested positive for Covid-19. The number of infected passengers may increase as testing is still going on. The flight was operated by EuroAtlantic Airways and was chartered by SpiceJet." While EuroAtlantic is a Portuguese carrier, SpiceJet is an Indian airline. Thursday's chartered flight, too, belonged to EuroAtlantic, according to a media report. Earlier, the flight was reported to be operated by Air India, though the national carrier clarified this was not true.

"Several media houses have reported that passengers of Air India flight from Rome to Amritsar have been tested Covid positive. This is wrong and baseless. Air India doesn't operate any flight from Rome currently," the airline shared on Twitter.