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Kerala tightens norms for overseas travellers
All travellers coming from high–risk-borne countries will have to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine and special teams will monitor them, said state health minister Veena George while announcing new regulations.
As the threat of new virus variant Omicron looms, Kerala on Monday revised its norms for overseas travellers arriving in the state. All travellers coming from high–risk-borne countries will have to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine and special teams will monitor them, said state health minister Veena George while announcing new regulations.
She said all travellers will have to undergo a test at the airport soon after their arrival and even if their tests are negative they will be under quarantine, and there will be another test on the eighth day, she said, adding that if the result is again negative then they can remain in a 7-day quarantine at their home.
Those who test positive will be released only after three consecutive tests after having recovered, she added.
“We have heightened our vigil at all airports. Medical teams and enough ambulances will be deployed in airports and treatment centres will be well-equipped. It is a crucial juncture and we can’t lower our guard,” she said after the Covid coordination committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram. The state has been topping the daily Covid-19 cases for more than six months.
Travellers from the following countries would need to follow new norms: the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, Israel, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Mauritius.
“We are following the directives of the Union health ministry. We urge all to ensure Covid-appropriate behavior,” she said. The minister said 96 per cent of the eligible population in the state have received first dose and 63 per cent have received both doses .
She said the chief minister will chair a high-power committee on Covid-19 on Tuesday to review the situation.
Meanwhile, the state on Monday reported 3,382 new Covid-19 cases and 117 deaths, raising death toll to 39,955, an official release said. Of the 117 deaths, 59 were reported over the last few days and 58—backlog cases— were designated as Covid-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, the release said.
In Covid-19 deaths, Kerala is now second to Maharashtra.
Now backlog cases, either unreported or kept out of Covid-19 list, are posing a big challenge to the state. Veena George admitted in the assembly that around 7,000 deaths failed to find in the Covid-19 death list due to technical reasons but only half of them is included in the list, and more than 17,000 appeals are still pending with the committee for confirming Covid-19 deaths.
The health department is adding backlog of unreported cases between March 2020 and June 2021 along with the daily deaths, showed official data. In November around 60 per cent of deaths reported were backlog cases.
“When we pointed grave errors, the government blamed us saying we were portraying the state in bad light. We are happy at least now it realized its error and publicity stunt,” said public health experts Dr S S Lal.
