Airline Staff Forces 4-Year-Old Child To Take COVID-19 Test, Violates Guidelines

The ground staff of an airline in India forced a four-year-old child to take a pre-departure COVID-19 diagnostic test before boarding the flight. The incident took place at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

As per the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, children below five years are exempted from undergoing pre-departure and post-arrival COVID-19 tests at airports.

According to local media reports, Rajdeep Ganguly, his wife and four-year-old son – all US citizens – had planned to go on a holiday to Andaman and Nicobar Island’s Port Blair. They were set to take a Go First Airways flight to reach their destination on Nov. 27. When they arrived at the airport, the Go First Airways ground staff asked them to produce a negative COVID-19 test report of the four-year-old boy, The Times of India reported Thursday.

The airline staff, reportedly, refused to let the child accompany his parents without the negative report.

“I explained to the air staffer that protocol issued by the Union Health Ministry specifically exempts children below the age of five from RT-PCR tests, but he refused to listen. He rudely replied that ‘if the boy tests negative, he flies with you,” Ganguly told the Times of India.

The airline staff also refused to show the clause that makes the COVID-19 test compulsory for the four-year-old, Ganguly alleged. The child's father also connected with Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Ltd in order to confirm whether or not his son needed a negative report. In Port Blair, authorities said that the test was “unnecessary” for the child.

Despite this, the father was forced to get an RT-PCR test for the child and only then were they allowed to board the flight, India Today reported.

It remains unclear if any formal complaint has been filed by the family over the incident.

In the last 24 hours, India has reported 9,419 new Covid cases – a daily spike that's 11.6 per cent higher than the previous day. At least 159 deaths were also recorded in the last 24 hours. Amid the new Omicron variant scare, airports across the country have started strict checks to curb the number of cases. So, far 23 Omicron cases have been reported in India.