Dubai: This is indeed a strange case. One of the victims of Friday’s Dubai-Kozhikode flight was declared positive for COVID-19 infection after his death. The person was infected by the coronavirus earlier too while in the UAE. He had tested negative for coronavirus before boarding the flight to India, according to a media report published here. The development just goes to show that COVID-19 infections can happen more than once.
Sudheer Variyath, 45, succumbed to his injuries a couple of hours after the Air India Express plane crash on Friday in Kozhikode. Sudheer was the last person to be declared dead after the crash. He tested positive for COVID-19 in the test conducted after the crash.
Because of this, his mortal remains could not be handed over to his family for cremation. The family had wanted to do his last rites in Malappuram district where he had built a new house last year. Instead, the cremation was done in the public crematorium in Kozhikode district.
Prashob Tharammal Keeri was one of his flatmates here. He was quoted as saying by ‘Gulf News’ that Sudheer had contracted coronavirus in mid-April. Three other flatmates of Sudheer had also tested positive for COVID-19. He said Sudheer was isolated in the Al Warsan facility and recovered by May first week.
Before he took the flight to leave the UAE for good, Sudheer tested negative for COVID-19 in an RT-PCR test. The RT-PCR test is considered the most accurate test for COVID-19, Prashob was quoted as saying in the report.
“He (Sudheer) decided to do the test again before flying to India. His wife had checked with health officials in Kerala about the need for it since he had the disease some months back,” his flatmate said. “He had carried all these documents with him. Unfortunately, there was nobody to explain all these details to the authorities. It was the driver who went to pick him up from the airport who ran around to find out in which hospital he was admitted,” said Prashob.
Praveen Kumar is a social worker volunteering for the Indian Consulate here. He was the one who helped Sudheer and his flatmates to be quarantined when they tested positive in April.
“I have informed the Non Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) department in Kerala about what exactly happened. I have requested them to give a clarification that probably he might have tested positive due to the antibodies,” Kumar said.
The Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people overshot the tabletop runway during landing at the Kozhikode airport in heavy rain Friday night. The aircraft fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into two, killing 18 people, including the pilots.