70 miss rescue flight after positive tests

MORE than 70 passengers fleeing COVID-plagued India have been prevented from boarding an Australian organised repatriation flight after almost 50 tested positive to the virus.

With the Qantas flight from New Delhi to Darwin able to carry 150 passengers, a search was under way on Friday for other potential passengers.

But the prospect of finding eligible passengers was low, given all would have had to return two negative COVID tests before boarding the plane.

Northern Territory Health officials said 48 had returned a positive result, with another 24 people deemed as close contacts, meaning 72 Aussies booked to fly home could no longer do so.

The flight was due to arrive in Darwin on Saturday.

Australia is now using its own nasal swab polymerase chain reaction teams to test travellers in hotels before departure, with prospective passengers also required to return a negative rapid antigen test.

“The new testing system in place is proving to be effective, however our thoughts are with those Australians — and their families here in Australia — unable to return to Australia due to the devastating third wave in India,” a NT Health spokeswoman said.

The repatriation flight was the first scheduled since the federal government banned all flights from India a fortnight ago as COVID cases exploded in India.

Repatriated Australians will be accommodated in the Howard Springs Centre for National Resilience, outside Darwin, where preparations had been under way for several weeks.

A flight left for India on Friday with oxygen equipment and was to return with Australians if they had tested negative to coronavirus.

The plane was carrying 1056 ventilators and 60 oxygen concentrators.

The move to start repatriating Australians from India follows the halving of active COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine across Australia since April 30.

Victoria currently has 19 active hotel quarantine cases, down from 87, according to Commonwealth Health data.