Concerns over delay in Zante holidaymakers being told to self-isolate
Video report by Charanpreet Khaira
There are concerns about the length of time holidaymakers on board a flight from Zante to Cardiff were told to self-isolate, after seven passengers were found to be infectious while flying.
Public Health Wales confirmed at least 16 cases of Covid-19 from three different parties who were on the Tui flight 6215 to Cardiff on 25 August.
It said seven of those were infectious at the time of flying and all 193 passengers have been told to self-isolate.
One traveller claimed the flight contained passengers not wearing their masks properly and disregarding the rules.
Travel expert Simon Calder told ITV News he was "shocked" that it had taken a week for people to be informed they needed to self-isolate.
"The system is supposed to be designed so as soon as Public Health Wales identifies a problem, they can get hold of everybody's passenger locator form and get in touch with them," Mr Calder said.
"That simply doesn't seem to have happened and for people to be told a week later to self-isolate, that simply isn't good enough", he added.
In response, Public Health Wales defended the system saying, "Test, Trace and Protect is a complex process, with the time interval between illness onset and making contact with potential cases often being outside the control of Public Health Wales."
It added that in the case of travellers returning to Wales from overseas, a flight could take place any time between 2-14 days of a person experiencing symptoms, with a further delay of when symptomatic people decide to book a test.
“Test samples are sent to laboratories and processed. This can take between 1-3 days, depending on the laboratory involved. Once a positive test is received, the case is transferred to the Test, Trace and Protect system. This takes up to a day. The team then take steps to contact the case."
The Welsh Government also said it was "deeply concerned" following reports that passengers on the flight did not adhere to coronavirus rules.
Education Minister Kirsty Williams told the Welsh Government's press conference a statement about other flights coming into Wales would be made on Tuesday.
"The Welsh Government is deeply concerned by the reports from people who were on that flight about the lack of appropriate measures to keep everybody on that flight safe," she said.
"My colleague Vaughan Gething, the health minister, is in discussion with all relevant parties and will be making a statement later today about other flights that may be operating out of Greece and into Cardiff Airport."
Following the incident, Cardiff Airport said it was backing calls for a testing system to be introduced at airports.
"We called on the UK Government a couple of weeks ago to give airports across the UK clarity on testing and to confirm if this would be something that can be implemented in a meaningful way. The travel industry’s call for a robust testing system being introduced at airports is further evidence that we all need the clarity to help give airline passengers confidence to travel again.”
Public Health Wales said one further person with coronavirus had died in Wales, bringing the total number of deaths there to 1,596.
There were a further 51 positive cases of Covid-19 reported, bringing the number of cases to 18,063.
Stephanie Whitfield was on the Tui flight to Cardiff and described how passengers were not wearing masks correctly and just seemed to "disregard the rules".
She told ITV Wales that she "didn't feel safe" on board the flight: "I don't think many of the passengers had been completely educated on the use of face masks."
Before arriving back in Cardiff, Ms Whitfield and her husband decided to self-isolate and have been doing so since before the news about the flight emerged.
A spokeswoman for Tui said on Monday that the firm was "concerned" to hear of Ms Whitfield's claims, adding that the health and safety of passengers is always its priority.
She said crew are trained to the highest standards and in line with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) guidelines.
Passengers must wear masks throughout - apart from when consuming food and drink - and are not allowed to move around the cabin.
"A full investigation is now under way as these concerns weren't reported during the flight or before today," the Tui spokeswoman said.