The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday welcomed its first batch of foreign returnees to the state, as they arrived in Vijayawada after landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad. 34 people hailing from the state were transported via road from Hyderabad along with officials of the state government.
Krishna District Collector Imtiaz and several other officials welcomed the returnees and asked them to cooperate with officials. They were given food and asked to choose between a state-run facility and a paid quarantine facility before they were shifted for isolation. They were also tested for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure.
The 34 people who reached Andhra Pradesh were part of a special Air India flight with 168 evacuees from Chicago, under the Vande Bharat Mission.
To facilitate the arriving passengers and aircraft crew, the airport kept the international arrivals and the entire stretch right from the aerobridge to the arrivals ramp fully sanitised and fumigated. It also enforced social distancing among passengers.
Every passenger and crew member was screened by the thermal cameras positioned at the aerobridge exit under supervision of the airport health officials (APHO) as per the directives of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare prior to the immigration formalities.
According to reports, the first direct flight with foreign returnees from Andhra Pradesh is scheduled to land at the Visakhapatnam airport on Tuesday, May 19.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Andhra Pradesh's cumulative tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,230. However, with a rise in the number of people discharged from the hospital after being cured, the tally of active cases currently stands at an all-time low of 747. So far, 1,433 persons have been cured with 103 persons discharged in the past 24 hours alone.
Of the state's 13 districts, 6 districts did not report a single case on Sunday. With one death reported during the past 24 hours, the state's death toll has touched 50.
IANS inputs