COVID-19 mutant: Chaos in Mumbai, Delhi airports due to increased testing

Chaos prevailed in the country's two busiest airports - Delhi and Mumbai - due to ban on flights from the UK and additional testing of incoming passengers. Several passengers complained of long waits at the airport as authorities began testing every passenger rigorously to stop the spread of a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus.

Arriving passengers alleged that they waited for more than eight hours to get their test report. A passenger reportedly waited for six hours for the test at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport. Another passenger, who had done pre-booking of her test, had to wait for nine hours after arrival.

"We are at the airport since last night and now it's over eight hours we are here at the airport waiting for permission to go outside the airport, social distancing is clearly being violated at the airport," a woman passenger told ANI.

Additionally, two days of fresh quarantine rules in Maharashtra resulted in chaos and confusion at the Mumbai airport. Some passengers claimed they were randomly let off after they showed COVID-19 test results while others were taken to hotels.

Maharashtra government has ordered two days of quarantine for passengers coming from Europe and the Middle East. In Maharashtra, symptomatic passengers will be taken to COVID-19 facilities and others will be taken to hotels, where they will have to stay for seven days at their own expense.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has temporarily suspended all flights from the UK announced in light of the new strain of coronavirus from December 23 to 31, 2020, or till further orders.

Here are some videos of angry passengers that were posted on Twitter:

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