Coronavirus: 22 Kerala officials engaged in Air India rescue test positive, CM in self-quarantine
Among those who have tested positive are the Malappuram sub-collector and assistant collector.
Twenty-two officials involved in the rescue and relief operations after last week’s Air India Express crash in Kerala have tested positive for the coronavirus, reported The Hindu.
These officers had met and interacted with several ministers, including Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and senior bureaucrats after the Boeing aircraft overshot the tabletop runway of Karipur airport in Kozhikode city on August 7 while landing in heavy rain.
A statement from Vijayan’s office said that he is going into self-quarantine, according to ANI. “Co-operation and Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran will hoist national flag at Independence Day function to be held in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow,” the statement added.
Malappuram District Medical Officer K Sakeena confirmed that Sub-Collector Anju KS, Assistant Collector Vishnu Raj and 20 other officials tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Air India’s Boeing-737 flight was carrying 190 passengers and crew. More than a 100 passengers were injured. Air India said on Wednesday that 85 injured passengers have been discharged from various hospitals.
Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan, who was in charge of the rescue efforts at the Kozhikode airport, said that his health condition was stable and that he was not showing any symptoms, The New Indian Express reported. On Thursday, Malappuram district police chief U Abdul Kareem had tested positive.
The spread of the coronavirus in Malappuram has raised concerns with more than 960 positive cases since Monday, reported The Hindu. Several municipality areas, including Kondotty and Kottakkal, were declared containment zones.