Passengers removed from flight in India because UK national with coronavirus was on board

All passengers were taken off a flight scheduled to depart from the Indian state of Kerala for Dubai on Sunday morning after officials learnt that a UK national who had tested positive for the coronavirus was on board, an Emirates spokesperson said.

The UK citizen had been touring Munnar, a hill station in the southern Indian state, and was under surveillance after testing positive for the coronavirus, the spokesperson said.

He and his wife were a part of a group of 19 British tourists who were also among the 290 passengers removed from the flight at Cochin International Airport in Kochi.

"Fifteen minutes prior to departure we learnt that a UK national who had tested positive for coronavirus was onboard the flight," said the Emirates spokesperson. The 19 tourists and one Indian national were isolated at the airport, and the remaining 270 passengers took the flight to Dubai after a three-hour delay.

"The husband and wife have been sent to a local hospital for quarantine and further tests while the remaining group of tourists has been quarantined at a makeshift facility at a hotel near the airport," said P.S. Jayan, a spokesperson for Cochin International Airport. The Indian national was let go as he was not under suspicion of contracting the virus, Jayan added.

An American couple who had flown from London to Kochi earlier this month were apprehended at the same airport on Friday while trying to fly to Doha, after an alert was issued by a hospital.

They had visited the hospital earlier that day because the woman was suffering from diarrhoea. After examination, staff asked that they be tested for coronavirus and quarantined until the results came back. The couple left the hospital without taking the test.

They are currently under quarantine in hospital.

(CNN)