An international commercial flight has been linked to more than 50 coronavirus infections.
At least 53 passengers on Vistara flight 6395 from New Delhi, India to Hong Kong have since tested positive for coronavirus, reported the New York Post.
While the Indian airliner can hold up to 188 passengers, it is unclear how many exactly were on board. If it were completely booked, it would mean more than 25% of passengers on board had contracted the novel virus since the April 4th flight.
All of the passengers on board the Vistara flight had tested negative 72 hours prior to departing from New Delhi.
According to Forbes, 25 passengers tested positive soon after landing in Hong Kong, with at least 22 other cases detected by day 12. Hong Kong has one of the strictest travel policies and requires arriving passengers to quarantine for three weeks.
In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began requiring all passengers arriving in the United States to show proof of a negative COVID test up to three days before their departure.
Related
Earlier this week, the US State Department updated its travel advisories to align with CDC recommendations and now 80% of countries worldwide are on the “Level 4: Do Not Travel” alert.
"This does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country, but rather reflects an adjustment in the State Department's Travel Advisory system to rely more on CDC's existing epidemiological assessments," the department said in a statement sent to CNN.
In total, there are now more than 100 countries at Level 4 including: Bahamas, Aruba, France, Austria, Italy, Brazil, India, Domincan Republic, the Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom, Croatia and Mexico.
The CDC also notes that "international travel poses additional risks and even fully vaccinated travelers are at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading new COVID-19 variants… and recommends delaying international travel until you are fully vaccinated.”
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