16 of 78 evacuees from Afghanistan test COVID-19 positive

16 out of the 78 evacuees who reached India from Afghanistan have tested positive for COVID-19. The evacuees who tested positive for the virus also include the Sikhs who brought back three copies of the holy book Guru Granth Sahib from several gurudwaras in Afghanistan.

Union Petroleum and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also came in contact with the evacuees at the Delhi airport. All those who have tested positive are asymptomatic patients.

Infected evacuees were placed under mandatory quarantine as per a Health Ministry guideline. This guideline makes it compulsory for those arriving from Afghanistan to stay in institutional quarantine for minimum 14 days from the day of arrival at the Chhawla camp in Najafgarh.

Also read: Afghanistan crisis: India brings back 78 people, including Afghan Sikhs

There, however, has been an exemption from mandatory pre-boarding RT-PCR testing for people coming from Afghanistan given the uncertain situation in the country.

“As the COVID-19 immunisation status of these individuals is unknown, and the exact extent of COVID-19 transmission (including circulation of variants) in Afghanistan is unclear at present, as a matter of abundant precaution, it has been decided that the arriving persons shall undergo a mandatory minimum 14 days’ institutional quarantine at Sector Headquarters Logistic and Communications, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Chhawla Camp,” the Health Ministry memorandum dated August 23 read. The memorandum further stated that ITBP will make the required arrangements for transportation of passengers from the airport to the Chhawla Camp in Najafgarh.

India began running special flights under Operation Devi Shakti to evacuate its own citizens and Afghan partners from Kabul after Taliban swept over the country on August 15.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

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