#Coronavirus: Spicejet pilot with no international flight in march tests positive

Mumbai: SpiceJet pilot, who did not fly any international flight in the month of March, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

“One of our colleagues, a first officer with SpiceJet, has tested positive for COVID-19. The test report came on March 28. He did not operate any international flight in March 2020. The last domestic flight that he operated was on March 21 from Chennai to Delhi and since then he had quarantined himself at home,” a SpiceJet official said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

The official said that it has directed all the crew and staff members, who recently flew with him, to quarantine themselves for the next 14 days.

“All measures are being taken to provide appropriate medical care to him. Safety of our passengers and employees is our topmost priority,” the spokesperson said.

“We have been diligently following the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation and the government of India. All our aircraft are being disinfected thoroughly since the end of January and the disinfectants used are as per the WHO standards,” the spokesperson added.

India is currently under a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to stop the spread of the COVID-19, and consequently, all international and domestic flights have been suspended for this period.

More than 970 people have tested positive for the virus and 25 of them have died because of it till now in India, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data.