JOIN USKerala cautions against bringing NRIs back without COVID-19 screening, CM writes to PM Modi
Kerala has raised serious concerns over bringing back NRIs without conducting COVID-19 screening.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cautioning that bringing NRIs without COVID-19 screening posed a high risk of COVID-19 spread during transit and after reaching India. On arrival it is mandatory for all to be in government quarantine facilities for seven days.
The state also expressed concerns over the priorities being made by the centre in identifying NRIs for returning. As per the centre's prioritisation, about 80,000 Malayali NRIs would be brought to Kerala. However, as per the registrations received by Kerala government, about 1,69,136 of the 4.42 lakh Malayali NRIs who wish to return come are under priority due to reasons such as job loss, visa expiry, pregnancy and students.
CM Vijayan also said that around 2,250 persons were expected to arrive Kerala by air in five days and three ships were also expected to arrive. Every one will be kept in government quarantine for seven days. If tested negative in PCR test on seventh day, they will be allowed to go home and remain in quarantine for seven more days. About 2.5 lakh quarantine beds were being made ready by government and two lakh anti-body test kits being ordered. At present state have 45,000 PCR kits and by month end 60,000 tests were expected to be done.
Meanwhile, 3,363 Malayalis stranded in other states so far reached Kerala by road. As many as 1,80,540 Malayalis in other states registered with Kerala government for returning of which 25,410 were already issued passes. The highest number of persons were registered from Karnataka, around 60,000.
Around 14,500 migrant workers in Kerala so far left the state by trains. Three trains were operated on Tuesday. Though Congress leaders offered funds to district collectors for meeting the travel expense of migrant workers as per a call by party president Sonia Gandhi, Kerala Chief Minister said that the state would not accept the amount as it was not directly getting involved in return expenses of migrant workers.