Coronavirus: 2 passengers put in isolation at Kolkata airport

Two passengers, who arrived at Kolkata international airport from Bangkok, have been placed in isolation for suspected novel coronavirus, officials said on Thursday.

A passenger named Himadri Barman was quarantined on Tuesday, and Nagendra Singh on Wednesday, government officials said in New Delhi.

Both passengers were sent to Beliaghata ID Hospital, a Kolkata airport official said.

Earlier, a passenger named Anita Oraon had also shown signs of fever during thermal scanning, Kolkata airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee said.

Meanwhile, the health and family welfare department of the West Bengal government has said nobody in the state has tested positive for coronavirus.

"The department of health and family welfare, Government of West Bengal hereby informs the general public that no one in West Bengal has tested positive (for the virus) till date.

"The statement attributed to the airport director is factually incorrect. The state government has been diligently dealing with the matter and as of the evening of 13th February 2020, of all the persons screened and samples taken in the state, not a single person has tested positive," state health secretary Vivek Kumar said in a press statement.

Already two airlines which had direct flights between Kolkata and China have suspended their operations.

Low-cost carrier IndiGo has temporarily suspended its flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou from February 6.

"In line with the WHO guideline to contain the spread of coronavirus, IndiGo will be suspending its Kolkata- Guangzhou service from February 6, 2020 to February 25, 2020 and Guangzhou-Kolkata from February 7 till February 26," the airline had said in a statement.

After IndiGo, China Eastern Airlines suspended its flights between Kolkata and Kunming in China from February 10 to February 29.

Passengers of flights coming to Kolkata from Kunming and Guangzhou in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok were being screened since January 17.

At present, passengers arriving from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok are being screened as no flights are operating to and from China.