Thiruvananthapuram: A British man infected with Coronavirus and his travel group were among 20 passengers who were offloaded from a Dubai-bound Emirates flight at the Kochi airport on Sunday.

The man, a native of United Kingdom, was under quarantine at a Kerala resort but had reached the airport with a group of 19 people without informing the authorities.

Sources at the Kochi airport said the man was vacationing in Munnar, a popular hill station in Idukki, 104 kilometres away from the airport. The group was staying at the Munnar Tea County resort from March 7.

As soon as authorities received information, all the 270 passengers were offloaded from the flight that was about to depart. Later, the man and his group, along with a local who wished to be tested for the virus as he was in the tourist's vicinity, were offloaded and moved to a hospital. The rest of the passengers were allowed to take their flight to Dubai.

Kerala has reported 22 coronavirus cases, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying a total of 302 people are in isolation wards in hospitals across the state.

“A total of 7,677 people are under observation in the state, out of which 7,375 people are under home quarantine and 302 are in isolation wards across the state.

Out of the total of 1,897 samples sent for testing, 1,345 tested negative," the Chief Minister said.