Two out of 363 Indians, who were brought back from Abu Dhabi and Dubai via Air India flights, have tested positive for COVID-19 virus, the government said on Thursday.
They landed in Kerala after which the two of them were found to be Covid-19 positive.
One of them is being treated in Kozhikode, while the second one is receiving treatment in Kochi, the government said.
With this, the total number of coronavirus positive cases reached 505 mark with five deaths reported.
Apart from the Air India flights, 698 Indians are being transported from the Maldives to Kochi via Indian Navy warship INS Jalashwa. This transportation by Air India is under the ‘Vande Bharat’ mission, while by the Indian Navy is under Operation Samudra Shakti of the Indian government.
Two prominent warships – INS Jalashwa and INS Magar – have been deployed on the mission.
Yesterday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the state must ready itself for a possible third wave of infection linked to the arrival of repatriated Indians.
He said that while Kerala had managed to flatten the coronavirus infection curve in 100 days, people had to be more careful in the coming days.
According to the government guidelines, all those being brought back were required to take coronavirus anti-body tests at respective points of departure. They also need to go through multi-level screenings, including thermal checks, on arrival in India.