After DGCA nod, airlines de-board seven passengers for flouting Covid-19 norms
The DGCA had stated last week that passengers will be 'de-boarded' from flights if they don't wear masks properly inside the aircraft
Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases across the country, seven passengers of various airlines have so far been de-boarded for not following safety protocols, such as the mandatory face mask rule.
News agency ANI reported on Thursday that Alliance Air, IndiGo and Air Asia have asked seven passengers to de-board the plane until now after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued rules in this regard.
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The DGCA had stated last week that passengers will be "de-boarded" from flights if they don't wear masks properly inside the aircraft or don't follow "Covid-19 appropriate behaviour".
If a passenger violates protocol despite repeated warnings then the passenger will be treated as 'Unruly Passenger', the aviation regulator said.
"It has been noticed that some travellers undertaking air journey do not adhere to 'Covid-19 protocols' which essentially involves wearing of masks properly that is not below the nose during all times of the journey from entering the Airport for departure to exiting the airport after arrival," the DGCA said.
"It has also been noted that some passengers after entering the Airport do not wear mask properly and also do not maintain social distance while being in the airport premises. Similarly, some passengers have been noticed not wearing their masks properly while on-board the aircraft," the statement added.
India reports biggest Covid-19 spike in 100 days
As many as 35,871 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,14,74,605, according to the Union health ministry said on Thursday.
This is the biggest spike in daily new cases in over a hundred days.
The fatalities due to the disease have increased to 1,59,216, with 172 more people losing their lives in the last 24 hours.
A total of 17,741 people recuperated in the same duration, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,10,63,025.
In addition to this, there are 2,52,364 active cases in the country currently. The number was 2,34,406 on Wednesday. The tally crossed the 2-lakh mark on Saturday.
After seeing fewer than 15,000 new cases daily for most of January and the first half of February, fresh cases of coronavirus have surged over the last two weeks, especially in Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
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