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(CNN) -
At least 10 passengers escaped from an airport in the northern Indian city of Amritsar after testing positive for COVID-19, according to Ruhee Dugg, a senior district official.
The passengers arrived in India aboard an international chartered flight from Italy on Thursday, and 125 of them tested positive, Dugg told CNN on Friday, after being tested under the country's entry rules.
VK Seth, director of the Amritsar airport, told CNN that 160 passengers were screened, while 19 were exempted because they were under the age of five.
While the travelers who tested positive were in transit to a local hospital on Thursday, at least 10 separated from the main group and managed to evade authorities.
The police are now looking for the fugitives.
"They were supposed to go to the hospital, but they went home ... Police are now working to locate these people and will take the necessary action," Dugg told CNN.
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"There were a lot of passengers. They all said they will come to the hospital, and most did, but some were able to get out," he added.
The highly contagious omicron variant is putting pressure on the country's medical resources, which is dealing with an increase in cases.
On Friday, India reported 117,100 new cases of Covid-19, the highest daily increase in nearly seven months.
More than 480,000 people in India have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
CNN's Sara Spary and Esha Mitra contributed to this report.