After landing in Delhi, 16 of the 78 people evacuated from Afghanistan tested positive for COVID

At least 16 people have tested positive for COVID-19 after being evacuated from Afghanistan and arriving at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport yesterday (August 25). All 78 persons have been quarantined as a precaution. Among the afflicted evacuees are three Sikhs who returned from Afghanistan with Guru Granth Sahib and Gurdwaras.

The Sikhs presented the Guru Granth Sahib to Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and V. Muraleedharan at the Delhi airport. So far, the union misters have made no remark on the coronavirus.
Those who have tested positive have been admitted to LNJP Hospital, while the rest are being quarantined at an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp in Chhawla, southwest Delhi.
According to the Health Ministry’s rules, all evacuees from Afghanistan would be quarantined for 14 days in the ITBP quarantine center

.”Because the COVID-19 immunization status of these individuals is unknown, and the exact extent of COVID-19 transmission (including variant circulation) in Afghanistan is unknown at this time, it has been decided that the arriving persons shall undergo a mandatory minimum 14-day institutional quarantine at Sector Headquarters Logistic and Communications, Indo – Pakistan.”

Earlier on Tuesday, 78 passengers, including 46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, boarded an Air India flight from Kabul to Delhi through Dushanbe, carrying three copies of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib.

Meanwhile, the Narendra Modi government has deployed foreign missions near Afghanistan to expedite the evacuation of stranded Indian citizens and Afghan nationals from the war-torn country, especially Hindus and Sikhs. Commercial flights are no longer permitted at Kabul International Airport, and only military aircraft are permitted to land and take off from there.