As many as 590 passengers landed in Mumbai from the UK in three aircraft on Tuesday, a civic official said, adding no COVID-19 symptomatic person was on board these flights.
A BMC official said 187 passengers were from Mumbai, 167 from rest of Maharashtra and 236 were from other states.
While 299 passengers were sent to various hotels, where they will be kept under institutional quarantine, the passengers from other states will be sent to their respective states, he said.
“Passengers from outside Maharashtra having connecting flights to their native places were allowed to do so. Those wishing to travel by road were also allowed to go to their respective destinations and this information was sent to their state representatives,” he said.
A doctor from the BMC-run Seven Hills hospital told PTI that no passenger from UK has been brought to their hospital since last night.
BMC commissioner I S Chahal had said all passengers arriving from the UK in the five flights till Tuesday night would be kept in institutional quarantine in hotels, and the passengers showing COVID-19 symptoms will be admitted at Seven Hills hospital.
However, three flights have landed, one has been cancelled and the remaining one will land here on Tuesday night, another official said.
“With reports of distinct phylogenetic cluster of coronavirus detected and rapidly growing in UK, all flights originating from UK to India have been suspended temporarily as per orders of GoI,” the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation had tweeted.
“In order to prevent spread of the new mutant, BMC has issued the following orders: All passengers arriving from UK will undergo mandatory institutional quarantine at their own cost, in the nearby hotel for 7 days. Symptomatic passengers will be shifted to Seven Hills Hospital. Passenger will pay for the RT-PCR test to be conducted between the fifth and seventh day.
“If tested negative, passenger would be discharged with 7 days mandatory home quarantine. Positive asymptomatic patients will be quarantined at the hotel or COVID19 hospital for 14 days. Transport arrangements for passengers will be made by BEST,” the BMC tweeted.
Accordingly, BMC officials shifted the passengers who landed from UK on Tuesday directly to hotels by BEST buses.
The Central government on Monday said all UK-India flights will be suspended from December 23 to December 31 in view of the emergence of a new coronavirus strain in that country.
It also said all passengers coming from UK on Monday and Tuesday would be compulsorily tested for coronavirus on arrival at airports.
