Some international passengers who travelled with negative Covid-19 reports have tested positive for the infection on arrival at the international airport in Hyderabad, PTI reported on Sunday, citing a Union health ministry official.

“A few cases [of Covid-19 positive on arrival] are reported in spite of them carrying negative reports,” Union Health Ministry official Anuradha Medoju said. She said that the information on positive cases was shared with state government officials for quarantining and other purposes.

The official, however, could not give details on the number of such passengers. Unidentified airport officials said several such cases were reported and that it was happening on a regular basis.

They said that those travelling from the Middle East and the United Kingdom are tested mandatorily but passengers from countries such as Singapore, the United States and the Maldives were allowed to go home if they have a negative RT-PCR report.

The officials said that while some passengers might be faking their negative Covid-19 reports, the positive results on arrival could be because of the quick incubation of the infection during the journey. They said it was also possible that a person might have been found negative for some reasons despite carrying the virus.

Coronavirus cases have continued to spike in Telangana, according to The News Minute. On Sunday, the state reported 394 cases, the highest this year, taking the tally to 3.03 lakh. Cases have also surged in the Greater Hyderabad area. The daily count in the limits of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has climbed to 81.

Meanwhile, India on Monday registered 46,951 daily infections, continuing the trend of reporting more than 40,000 cases, data from the Union health ministry showed. With this, India’s tally rose to 1,16,46,081. This is the highest one-jump in coronavirus cases since November 7.