Twenty-two officials including the district collector and the local police chief who responded to the plane crash in Kerala last week have tested positive for COVID-19, the Malappuram medical officer has said.

The Air India Express plane came with 184 passengers from Dubai under the center's Vande Bharat Mission that expatriates Indians stranded abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They were quarantined after the rescue operations at the plane crash site ended. Most of them were on location," the district medical officer said.

The district medical officer's team is undertaking risk assessment and more details are awaited.