As many as 172 passengers who arrived in Punjab on a charter flight from Rome on Friday tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the Punjab health department to order a probe against the private laboratory at the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport.

This is the second time when a large number of passengers arriving from Italy have tested positive for coronavirus in one week. On Thursday, at least 125 out of 179 passengers coming from Rome in the European nation tested positive for COVID-19 at Amritsar airport.

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Meanwhile, all European nations have been deemed as “at risk” countries by the Union health ministry. All passengers flying in from these countries have to undergo COVID-19 tests on arrival.

“Total 285 passengers today (on Friday) landed at the airport through the flight that was operated by EuroAtlantic Airways and chartered by SpiceJet. A total of 172 passengers have tested positive for Covid-19 in the RT-PCR test,” said VK Seth, director, Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport.

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On Friday, Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh said that such a large number of positive results led to suspicions about the lab. Singh ordered a probe against the lab.

“The passengers testing positive for COVID-19 in such a large number on a second consecutive day has raised a question on the testing practices. In view of this, we have decided to test 75 passengers again,” Singh said.

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“I have talked to the officials of the airport and asked them to initiate a probe against the lab,” he added.

All those who have tested positive on arrival were in possession of a COVID negative report from Italy. Passengers have alleged that the lab, hired by the Centre through tendering process, was asking for money for negative reports.

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On Thursday, several passengers who tested positive on arrival left for their homes, violating the COVID-19 guidelines. Amritsar deputy commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira took a strong note of the incident.