The West Bengal government on Thursday dismissed reports that two passengers who arrived at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata from Bangkok hadtested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal hereby informs the general public that no one in West Bengal has tested positive till date,” a statement issued by the HFW department said.
“The statement attributed to the Airport Director is factually incorrect,” it said.
News reports had quoted Director of NSCBI Airport, Kaushik Bhattacharjee, as saying that two passengers, who arrived at the airport from Bangkok, were sent to Beliaghata ID Hospital after they tested positive for the coronavirus.
“The state government has been diligently dealing with the matter and as of the evening of 13th February 2020, of all the persons screened and samples taken in the state, not a single person has tested positive,” the statement said.
Passengers of flights coming to Kolkata from Kunming and Guangzhou in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok were being screened since January 17.
At present, passengers arriving from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok are being screened as no flights are operating to and from China.
