As flights resumed on Monday morning across several parts of India, one of the first few passengers to land at Bengaluru airport was five-year-old Vihaan Sharma, who came by flight all alone after being stranded in Delhi for over two months.
Wearing a yellow jacket, gloves and a mask, the boy was photographed at the arrivals gate of Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on Monday morning holding a placard that read ‘Special category’. His mother, Manjeesh Sharma, had come to the airport to pick him up. She told mediapersons present there that Vihaan had gone to Delhi to visit his grandparents just some days before the lockdown and had been stranded there ever since.
One of the 1st few passengers who arrived at the @BLRAirport from #Delhi, the 5 y.o. travelled alone and will be home quarantined as mandated by @DHFWKA pic.twitter.com/yVi7ISGtQT
— Stacy Pereira (@StacyPereira89) May 25, 2020
The mother and son had an emotional reunion at the airport. Vihaan is reportedly asymptomatic.
"Welcome home, Vihaan! (Sharma) Bengaluru airport is constantly working towards enabling the safe return of all our passengers," tweeted an official of the Kempegowda International Airport on his return.
Welcome home, Vihaan! #BLRairport is constantly working towards enabling the safe return of all our passengers. https://t.co/WJghN5wsKw
— BLR Airport (@BLRAirport) May 25, 2020
At the airport, about 60 departures and 54 arrivals were reported on Monday morning, officials told PTI. Restrictions on the number of flights by some states, some of them mandating institutional quarantine, had led to the cancellation of several arrivals and outbound flights.
As per the state government standard operating procedures, those passengers who have travelled from high COVID-19 prevalence states were shifted to hotels for seven days of institutional quarantine by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses, specially arranged for the purpose.
The Karnataka government has said people coming from high COVID-19 prevalence states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — will have to go for institutional quarantine for seven days, and charges to be borne by the passengers.
After their COVID test comes out negative (swab should be taken between 5-7 day after their arrival) using 'pool testing', they should be sent for home quarantine for another seven days, sources said.
Those coming from other low prevalence states have been asked to follow 14 days of home quarantine.
Home quarantine is allowed for pregnant women, children below 10 years, senior citizens 80 years and above and terminally ill patients along with one attendant after their test result is negative.
In special cases where businessmen are coming for urgent work, they are permitted without the necessity of quarantine if they bring the negative test report of COVID-19 from ICMR approved Laboratory and it should not be more than two days older from the date of travel.
In case they don't have such certificate, they have to undergo COVID-19 test and stay in paid institution quarantine till the test result comes out.
In an effort to protect passengers and staff from the risk of COVID-19 transmission, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) that operates the city airport has introduced a Parking-to-Boarding 'contactless' journey.
(With agency inputs)