PESHAWAR: At least twenty-eight passengers, who arrived from Bahrain, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar.
The airport’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Obaid-ur-Rehman Abbasi has informed that rapid antigen tests were conducted on 130 passengers who arrived at the airport from Bahrain.
“The passengers who tested positive have been handed over to the district administration,” he said, adding that various areas of the airport had also been disinfected after the development.
The National Communication Centre Bahrain clarified that only one of the passengers who had a positive rapid test result originated from the Kingdom. It added that the other 27 were transit passengers who commenced their travel from outside Bahrain.
The development came as Pakistan, like many countries around the world, is struggling to contain the third wave of the deadly virus. The total caseload in the country has crossed 850,000 cases.
A day earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) revoked a private airline’s flight permit flying from Dubai to Peshawar over violations of the government’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). Â
The private airline flight had flown 24 coronavirus positive cases from Dubai to Peshawar on May 10. Despite warnings, 27 positive cases were brought to Peshawar from Sharjah again on May 16.
Last week, Pakistan had allowed airlines to operate an additional 30 percent of flights in a revised policy. Additional flights were allowed to ensure passengers were able to travel abroad without any hindrances.
