INCUBATOR

125 of 179 Passengers on Flight From Italy Test Positive for COVID Upon Landing

Local media reported that many passengers aboard the charter flight, which flew from Italy to India, had tested negative before boarding.

Nearly 70 percent of passengers aboard a flight that landed in India on Wednesday tested positive for COVID upon arrival, according to local reports. VK Seth, the director of Sir Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, confirmed on Thursday that 125 of 179 passengers had produced positive tests. The Indian Express reported that many on the charter flight, which took off from Milan, Italy, had tested negative before the flight. Ambulances waiting outside the Amritsar airport took several passengers to a hospital, where they would be “observed and treated,” according to a medical official. On Thursday, India recorded 90,000 new COVID-19 cases, and had its largest single-day spike in cases of the Omicron variant with 495 new cases.