Qantas defends India repatratriation flight test results

Qantas has responded to concerns about the testing of more than 40 vulnerable Aussies who were booted from the first repat flight out of India.

Qantas has doubled down on a pre-flight testing bungle involving Aussies booked on the first repatriation flight from India.

But the airline says it will now use a different lab for future COVID-19 testing as it attempts to rebook those who were unable to board.

At least 46 people were reportedly booted from last week’s flight after returning positive results that have now been reviewed after travellers reported receiving conflicting results in their own tests.

Qantas Group chief medical officer Ian Hosegood said the results were the same.

“Managing a COVID testing regime in India at the moment is inherently difficult, but these results have been checked again and we’re confident they are right,” Dr Hosegood said.

Qantas and the Department of Foreign Affairs do not believe that any passengers booked on this flight were denied boarding in error, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

However, a different lab will now be used for future pre-flight testing.

Qantas has defended its pre-flight testing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

This is because although the laboratory used by Qantas’s medical provider was accredited to do COVID-19 testing, it had a temporary suspension of accreditation for other tests.

A small number of passengers also found errors such as the wrong age or gender on their result paperwork, but Qantas said it had confirmed with the lab that no one received the wrong set of results.

“While none of these factors impacted the ultimate accuracy of the tests or who was allowed to board the flight, Qantas and DFAT understand that everyone involved in this process needs to have upmost confidence in all aspects,” the statement read.

Australians stranded in India are desperate to get home. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

One passenger who tested negative and flew on the May 14 flight has since tested positive at the Howard Springs quarantine facility.

Qantas said this suggested this person contracted COVID prior to leaving India but had yet to develop the infection.

Dr Hosegood said mistakes could occur in large-scale testing but said a false positive COVID result tended to be far less common than a false negative.

“Given the high rates of infection in India more broadly at the moment, we may see similar levels of positive test results ahead of future repatriation flights,” he warned, adding safety and not overwhelming quarantine facilities was paramount.

People receive a COVID-19 jab in India as a devastating wave of COVID-19 infections grip the nation and overwhelmed health systems. Picture: Rebecca Conway/Getty Images

The move to bump vulnerable Australians from the repatriation flight sparked outrage after the Morrison government threatened to jail or fine people who had been in India and attempted to come home during a temporary travel ban.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is working with Qantas to get passengers who were unable to board on future flights.

A Sydney-based businessman on Tuesday became the second Australian to die from COVID-19 in India.

Trina Solar Australia assistant director Govind Kant, 47, had returned to India for personal reasons in April.

In a statement, the company described the father of two as a dear friend and valued colleague.