mangaluru the high number of positive cases during rapid rtpcr tests at mangaluru international airport has forced many expats to postpone their journey according to airlineswith cases of entire families travelling to dubai testing positive at the airport expats are watching the positivity rate closely to plan their travelaccording to data available with toi from december 15 2021 to january 31 2022 16211 passengers have undergone rapid rtpcr and among them 357 have tested positive from august 18 to january 31 51429 have undergone the test and 412 have tested positivethe uae has stringent rules when it comes to rapid rtpcr tests the test is a mandatory to enter the uaewhen initially the rapid rtpcr started each flight bound to the uae had about 12 positive cases however after the onset of the third wave in the middle of december the positive cases in each flight increased to six to seven currently it is the same as a result expats are forced to rethink their journey plans said an executive of a lowcost carrieranother executive of an airline added that currently passenger load to the uae is not as expected as many are postponing their travel plans those who have to join work and cannot avoid travelling are going ahead with their plans however those who are travelling for other purposes have adopted a waitandwatch policy its temporary and we expect the load to improve by this monthend said the executivemany expats travelling to the uae had to return home and quarantine after they tested positive a family of three returned home after all of them tested positive a bride tobe who was travelling for her marriage in dubai along with parents had to cancel her wedding after her parents tested positive all these factors are forcing expats to put their uae plans on the backburner shared a source from miaa traveller testing positive during the rapid rtpcr test can travel again after a week of quarantine