Kanika Kapoor says she didn’t quarantine herself after UK travel as ‘there was no such advisory’

Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, who contracted Covid-19 last month and has since recovered, said on Sunday that nobody she came in contact with before she was hospitalised had tested positive. In an Instagram post defending her actions, Kapoor said she had not quarantined herself after her trip to the United Kingdom because there was no advisory to do so at that time.

The 41-year-old “Baby Doll” singer had tested positive for Covid-19 on March 20. She was soon accused of not quarantining herself after returning from London and instead attending some parties, which were also attended by some members of the Parliament. The Lucknow Police filed a case against Kapoor for negligence following government instructions, and Kapoor faced a lot of criticism for her actions.

Kapoor was admitted to Lucknow’s Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, and was discharged on April 6.

In her statement on Sunday, Kapoor said she had been quiet so far “not because I am wrong but in-fact being fully aware that there have been misunderstandings and wrong exchanges of information”. “I know there are several versions of stories out there about me,” she said. “Some of these seem to be fuelled even more because I have chosen to be silent till now.”

“Every person that I have come in contact with be it in UK, Mumbai or Lucknow has shown no symptoms of Covid-19, in fact all those tested have been negative,” she said.

According to Kapoor’s account, she was screened at the Mumbai airport after her return from the UK on March 10. She said the advisory for travellers from the United Kingdom was released only on March 18. Moreover, she did not show ill-health, so did not quarantine herself, she added.

On March 11, she travelled to Lucknow to meet her family, but there was no screening in place for domestic flights, the singer claimed. Kapoor said she attended “a friend’s lunch and dinner” on March 14 and March 15.

“There was no party hosted by me and I was in absolute normal health,” she added. “I had symptoms on the 17th and 18th March so I requested to be tested. I was tested on the 19th March and on 20th March when informed that my test was positive, I chose to go to the hospital. I was discharged after 3 negative tests and have since been at home for 21 days.”

Kapoor said, “Negativity thrown at a person does not change the reality.”

A travel advisory by India, dated March 10, advised self-quarantine for 14 days for people who had been to China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany. India prohibited travel from most European countries from March 18. By March 22, all international flights were banned from entering.