Kin of passengers arriving from UK create row at Amritsar airport over mandatory COVID-19 test
Dec 22, 2020
Amritsar (Punjab) [India], December 22 : Kin of passengers who have arrived from the United Kingdom at the Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport in Amritsar on Tuesday created a ruckus after the government made COVID test mandatory for those coming from the UK.
Talking to ANI, a relative of a passenger, Rajendra Singh, said they were tired of waiting at the airport.
"Our relatives have already undergone the test before boarding the flight but here the officials asked us to take it again. As test takes six to eight hours, it means they have to wait for at least eight hours more and later nothing is definite how much they have to wait more," he said.
Showing disappointment over the government guidelines the relatives raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Singh Modi and asking why the government was not considering the test conducted in the UK.
"I am here to receive my guest from London. I want to ask the government why it is not considering the test conducted by the UK. Our relatives have already tested negative for coronavirus in those tests. Does it mean the test over there is not reliable?" asked Prabhjyot Singh who came from Jalandhar.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate Dr Deepak Bhatiya said that the passengers who came from London to Amritsar were already being informed about the test before the flight took off. Relatives of passengers are creating a ruckus without any reason. All the tests are being conducted as per the government order.
Meanwhile, flight services from the UK to India have been suspended till December 31 over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus in London and England.
Passengers arriving from the UK in Mumbai on Tuesday morning have been sent for institutional quarantine in the wake of the new virus strain.
On December 20, Prime Minister Boris Johnson informed the public that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been found in the UK. He tweeted, "Given the early evidence we have on this new variant of the virus, and the potential risk it poses, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned."
