Four of the 289 passengers who arrived in the city from the United Kingdom on Sunday tested negative for Covid-19 after a retest, reversing their earlier positive result.
The passengers had landed at the Kempegowda International Airport early Sunday morning following partial resumption of air traffic from the UK.
Further tests will now be conducted to identify more passengers, if any, with the virus.
On arrival by a British Airways flight from Heathrow, London, all the passengers were scanned. As per the new protocol, their swab samples were checked for Covid-19. The RT-PCR tests were conducted in groups or pools of four. The health department had opted for pool testing since it reduces the number of RT-PCR tests.
Swabs were collected from 257, including the crew of 16. Ninety-five of them were women and 32 children.
Children under 10 years of age were excluded from swab-testing.
To ensure easy identification of the returnees, the hands of the arriving passengers were stamped with the words ‘UK Passenger’. The stamp also carried the date of arrival. This is expected to help the health officials ensure that they complete the mandatory 14-day home quarantine.
Health Minister K Sudhakar had on Saturday reviewed the screening arrangements at KIA. He had informed that all passengers arriving from the UK will have to under the RT-PCR tests.
Besides, they would be allowed to leave the airport only after the results come in. Only those who test negative would be sent for home quarantine.
The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has arranged a waiting area for the passengers till the test reports are received. Food and beverages are served to the travellers.
The Centre had suspended all flights from the UK on December 23, after reports emerged of a new Covid-19 virus strain with an ability to spread faster. So far, India has reported about 90 cases of Covid-19 identified as caused by the UK strain.