Hyderabad: Quarantine stamps, related to mandatory COVID-19 safety measures at airports, are resulting in severe allergic reactions on the skin, several international passengers claim. Currently, all the international passengers arriving at any international airport who are approved for home quarantine is stamped by the officials of their respective states.
The issue came into the spotlight after former Member of Parliament and national spokesperson for Congress Party Madhu Yashki tweeted on Sunday that he has sustained skin burns and infection from the indelible ink used for stamping. Yashki was stamped when he arrived at the Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport from New York, on Saturday, to catch a connecting flight to Hyderabad.
Responding to his tweet, Civil Aviation Minister Harshdeep Puri wrote, “Thank you for drawing my attention to this. I have spoken to CMD AAI.”
The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the consortium that runs IGI also took note. They issued a statement on Twitter: “We deeply regret the inconvenience caused. The ink used for stamping is a standard indelible ink. We’ve reported the issue to the Delhi State Authorities. Currently, this batch of ink is being kept aside for testing by the supplier and further desired action. Thank you for highlighting this issue.”
Other complaints
Meanwhile, following the response on Yashki’s tweet, several users on Twitter shared their experience of allergic reactions with the stamp at different international airports. People experience severe skin burns and some even saw peeling of the skin with rashes after the square quarantine imp was stamped on their hands.
An Odisha woman wrote: “This is not just the case in Delhi. It is happening everywhere…in all the stamps across the Indian Airports.”
Somesh Gupta, a dermatologist at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) said such it could be a case of dermatitis. “If you apply any dye, it may react with the skin. Stamping in this way is not a good practice. They must find a substitute like in AIIMS they put a paper band on the wrists for identification,” Gupta said to Hindustan Times.
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