The infected Air India pilots have been running Boeing 787 Dreamliner. None of them has any symptoms and all have been home quarantined.
New Delhi: Sources in Air India have told that five pilots, an engineer and a technician of the airlines have tested positive for COVID-19.
The infections identified after 77 pilots of the airline were tested for the virus yesterday on a priority basis. All of the infected pilots are asymptomatic and they have been told to home quarantine, the sources said. All are from Mumbai.
All five affected pilots have been operating Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The last time any of them operated a flight was on April 20.
The airline has been running through the national lockdown period, originally evacuating Indians stranded in virus-hit nations, including Italy and Iran.
Presently, they are involved in bringing back stranded Indians from different nations in what is probably the biggest rescue plan since the Gulf war.
On Thursday, India’s extensive Vande Bharat Mission to bring stranded Indians back began in the wake of COVID-19 crisis.
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Under the Vande Bharat Mission, 64 flights and three Navy ships would be operated to bring home nearly 15,000 Indians stranded overseas.
Pilots have been the latest section of frontline workers to be hit by the highly contagious virus.
Around 100 healthcare workers have already been infected by COVID-19, a chunk of them are from Delhi and Mumbai.
More than 500 security forces personnel have also been affected – around 250 of them in the CRPF. Around 200 personnel of the BSF also tested positive. A majority of them have been linked to Delhi.
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