On return from Pak, 43 isolated

AMRITSAR: The authorities on Thursday isolated 43 Indian nationals at a drug rehabilitation centre here upon their return from Pakistan, to screen them for coronavirus.

These persons include 29 crew members of a broadcasting team who had gone to cover the Pakistan Super League and 14 Kashmiri students who were told to return home after the neighbouring country closed its educational institutions due to the virus outbreak.

They all were allowed to enter India through the Integrated

Check Post (ICP) at Attari in the wee hours of Thursday and are now under the surveillance of the health department at Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre in the city. As per reports, the broadcasting crew had been stuck at the ICP for at least 12 hours due to a “technical glitch”. They had flown to Pakistan through the Dubai route, but the authorities there had sent them back through the Attari-Wagah land route. According to the rules, it is mandatory to take the same route to return.

ICP officials said that the crew members had entered India on Wednesday afternoon as Pakistan authorities had refused to send them back though the Dubai route, citing the issue of suspension of flights. “A special provision was granted by the Bureau of Immigration in the wee hours of Thursday to the crew members to return through the land route,” said a senior official of the Land Port of Authority at the ICP.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had shortened the duration of the league in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal said they have isolated the 43 Indians. “The group was handed over to us on Thursday morning. After conducting their medical checkup, they have been isolated for the next 24 hours. They will be tested again and their reports will be sent to the higher authorities. The decision of their release will be taken by the state government on Friday. Till now, all of them have been asymptomatic.”

THESE INCLUDE 29 CREW MEMBERS OF A BROADCASTING TEAM WHO HAD GONE TO COVER THE PAKISTAN SUPER LEAGUE