Kerala scraps demand for Covid-free certificate for expats returning home

The Kerala government now says expats will have to don PPE in flights.

The Kerala government on Wednesday scrapped its demand for Covid-free certificates for expatriates returning home from West Asian countries after the Centre said tests are not feasible in Indian missions but insisted that passengers will have to wear personal protection equipment (PPE) during the flights.

Medics screen a passenger after an Air India Express flight brought stranded Indian nationals from Abu Dhabi, UAE, as part of the repatriation exercise ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ at the airport in Kochi. (PTI)

For two weeks, the state government had crossed swords with the Centre over Covid-free certificates for expatriates even as the number of people from Kerala dying in Persian Gulf countries crossed 300. Despite a massive outrage after it made Covid-free certificates mandatory, the Kerala government stood its ground.

The state government finally relented after the Centre made it clear that evacuation will be difficult if it puts such “unreasonable conditions”.

But Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan maintained that the state’s position was consistent and it took such a decision to avert a “super spreading” of Covid-19. The government has now made personal protection equipment (PPE) mandatory for returning expatriates but many medical experts said in long-duration flights full PPE kits will pose many problems.

“It will be difficult in long-duration flights. Once passengers wear them, they won’t be able to go to washrooms. We hope someone will inform them about this,” said Indian Medical Association Kerala chapter president Abraham Verghese.

The CM said there was a concerted move to array expatriates against the government “but they will realise these follies”. A Malayalam newspaper ‘Madhyamam’ on Wednesday carried photos of more than 300 people who died in the Persian Gulf countries with a banner headline asking“ How many more will have to die for the government to open its eyes?” The CM said this was a well-planned and calculated move to turn expatriates against the government.

“We never blocked any flights. We took such a decision to check super spreaders and community spreading. More than 90 per cent of the cases in the state are people who came from abroad or other states. We insisted for certificates because of this,” he said.

The Congress-led opposition criticised the government move saying it was more interested in its records, not welfare of stranded people.

At least 18 lakh people from the state are working in Gulf countries and out of which four lakh have registered to return on a government website which began after lockdown norms were eased. As on Tuesday 88,000 expatriates have returned in ‘Vandhe Bharat’ and chartered flights. At least 149 Vande Bharat and 171 chartered flights are being planned in the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, the state reported more than 100 cases for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday with 152 fresh cases. Kerala’s Covid-19 tally now stands at 3,603. Out of these, 1,888 people have recovered while 1,692 are active cases. The Covid-19 death toll in Kerala is 23.