Nineteen Indian passengers tested positive for Covid-19 in a recent flight from New Delhi toChinese city of Wuhan under Vande Bharat Mission

Beijing: Nineteen Indian passengers tested positive for Covid-19 in a recent flight from New Delhi to the Chinese city of Wuhan under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM).

The October 30 Air India flight, the sixth operated by India to China in recent months and the first to Wuhan where the virus emerged in December last year, brought 277 Indians from New Delhi and evacuated 157 on its return under India's mega mission to evacuate stranded Indians from abroad.

CoronavirusAs part of this process, Air India is planning to operate four flights to Delhi on November 13, 20, 27 and December 4, the Indian Embassy here announced.

Besides the 19 Indians who tested positive, antibodies were found in the tests of 39 others, officials said.

Reacting to the development, Air India said that all the passengers to Wuhan had boarded the flight from Delhi with Covid negative reports from certified labs.

Air India flight

"Air India strictly adheres to all the safety protocol laid down by the regulatory bodies and conforms to requirements at destination airports," it said in a statement on Monday.

There is no question of passengers boarding any of our flight without valid Covid negative reports, it said.

They, however, were not able to provide information about 39 others whose tests reported antibodies and whether they were also referred to hospitals.

Air India flight

As per the protocols circulated by Chinese officials, all those who tested positive will be referred to hospitals and will be released only after they test negative.

Protocols also stipulate 14-day mandatory quarantine in the designated hotels for all those arriving in China.

The flight to Wuhan also carried the largest number of Indian passengers from Delhi compared to the previous VBM flights.