Mangaluru : The 15 passengers who came from Dubai on May 12, by a special repatriation flight tested positive for the deadly coronavirus infection on Friday, May 15.

Fifteen of them were from Dakshina Kannada (DK) district and five from neighbouring Udupi district, which remained COVID-19 free for over a month, they said adding all had been admitted to designated hospitals.

The returnees were taken to hotels and other facilities for mandatory 14-day institutional quarantine after they landed at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on Tuesday night and their swab samples were subsequently sent for test, said district Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said.

The men to be tested positive are aged 27, 35, 37, 38, and 39 each, two people aged 40, one aged 45, and 71, 76 and 81 each. A 6-year-old boy is also among the infected. The women who were tested positive are aged 27, 33 and 69 each. All are Dubai returnees.

Of the 179 passengers who arrived by the Air India Express Dubai-Mangaluru flight, as many as 49 belonged to Udupi and five others were from Uttara Kannada, she said.

The total count of active cases in the district has now suddenly incresed to 50 in which 29 are active cases. As many as 16 persons have recovered and been discharged, and five deaths have occurred so far.