As many as 23 Covid-19 positive Indians, 19 of them asymptomatic, were on board a Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flight that landed in the central Chinese city of Wuhan from New Delhi last Friday, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.
The flight registered the highest number of infected persons on an Indian rescue flight to China so far.
Asymptomatic carriers are those who are infected but do not show symptoms of the disease but could infect others.
The large number of cases on the flight – and the high incidence of the disease in India – seemed to have prompted the Chinese embassy in New Delhi to change pre-boarding Covid-19 testing rules for Indians coming to China on special flights from November 7 onwards.
The embassy announced on Monday that the Covid-19 IgG (immunoglobulin) antibody test will now be required for Indians planning to come to China. If a person has been exposed to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, she or he will typically produce IgG antibodies as part of the immune response to the virus.
“All passengers taking the charter flights or special flights from India to China arranged by the government of China or India, are required to take double nucleic acid tests and one IgM antibody test of Covid-19, in the labs authorised by the Indian Council of Medical Research (hereinafter referred to as ICMR) , with the samples of the first nucleic acid test collected within 72 hours (3 days) before boarding, and the samples of the second nucleic acid test and the IgM antibody test collected within 36 hours before boarding,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement published on its website on Monday.
The statement added: “For passengers of the Indian charter flights or special flights, the certificates of negative results of the three said tests along with the personally signed Health Declaration Form shall be sent through the Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India to the Chinese Embassy in India for verification and stamping at least 24 hours before boarding.”
As Covid-19 cases rebound globally, Beijing is scrambling to put in place more stringent testing for those planning to come to China.
Several Chinese embassies including in the US, Russia and UK now require both Chinese and foreigners flying to China to take the IgG test in addition to the nucleic acid test.
Meanwhile, the Wuhan municipal health commission said in its daily bulletin on Tuesday that all 23 Covid-19 positive persons on the VBM flight were sent to Jinyintan hospital for isolation, diagnosis, and treatment.
“The 19 imported asymptomatic infections from abroad were all Indian nationals. After quarantine and sampling, the nucleic acid test report was positive, and all were transferred to the Jinyintan Hospital for isolation, diagnosis and treatment,” the commission said.
The commission added that after “comprehensive epidemiological history, clinical symptoms, laboratory test and imaging examination results, etc (and) after consultation with experts, it is determined as an imported asymptomatic infection from abroad”.
The commission added that after investigation, close contacts of the confirmed cases and the asymptomatic infected persons were found to be “254 people on the same flight. They were all isolated at designated isolation points for medical observation.”
Air India, on its part, said all passengers who boarded the flight from New Delhi were carrying valid health certificates.
“All our passengers to Wuhan had boarded the flight from Delhi with Covid-19 negative reports from certified labs. Air India strictly adheres to all safety protocols laid down by regulatory bodies and conforms to requirements at destination airports. There is no question of pax (passengers) boarding any of our flights without valid Covid-19 negative reports,” an Air India spokesperson said in New Delhi on Monday.
It was not immediately clear what impact the cases in the Wuhan VBM flight will have on the ones planned ahead for China.
Flights are scheduled for November 6, 13, 20, 27 and December 4.
More than 1,500 Indians are waiting to return to China in upcoming VBM flights expected over the coming weeks.
The Friday flight was the sixth VBM flight by Air India to China to help Indians stranded in both the countries to travel back to their destinations.
More than 1,500 Indians are waiting to return to China in upcoming VBM flights expected over the coming weeks.
There is still no word from China when nearly 23,000 Indian students studying here will be able to return.
The Delhi-Wuhan-Delhi flight was announced after the cancellation of the October 23 flight to Guangzhou in south China.
China’s civil aviation administration hasn’t permitted Air India’s VBM flights to land in Beijing as a precaution against what Beijing calls “imported cases” of Covid-19.
The coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, the capital of central China’s Hubei province, in late December before spreading across the country and then globally, triggering the worst pandemic in decades.
India had dispatched three flights to Wuhan to airlift Indians stranded in the city when the virus was at its peak in the city in February this year.
China has brought the pandemic under control though local clusters have broken out in cities like Dalian, Qingdao, Urumqi and Kashgar in past weeks, triggering partial lockdowns and mass nucleic acid testing.
It has also placed strict measures to control imported cases including cancelling flights on routes where Covid-19 cases were reported.
