Reactions As 52 Passengers On A Flight From India To Hong Kong Test Positive For COVID-19

At least 52 people from a single flight from Delhi to Hong Kong have tested positive for Covid-19, despite all passengers presenting a negative coronavirus test before boarding. All of the passengers who tested positive flew into Hong Kong on a flight from India's capital, run by Indian airline Vistara on April 4.

Hong Kong as a whole has been recording fewer daily new infections than the total number detected on the flight, since it brought a fourth wave of infections under control in January.

Meanwhile in India, the country's healthcare system is collapsing under a devastating second wave of coronavirus that is killing more than 2,800 people a day in the nation that is home to 1.3 billion people.

A total of 188 passengers could have been on-board the flight, but Hong Kong authorities did not disclose how many people were on the plane.

Professionals have outlined four reasons why such a high number of people could have tested positive after the flight.

First, they say the passengers could have been infected in India after their pre-flight Covid-19 test which had to be taken within 72 hours of the flight.

Second, India's overloaded health system could have been unable to accurately detect the cases before they boarded the flight, or some passengers presented fraudulent test certificates,

A third possibility is that the passengers could have picked it up in one of the quarantine hotels in Hong Kong. Or they say that there could have been passengers infected with a particularly severe strain of Covid-19 that which could have passed between the passengers despite the filters on the plane ventilation systems.