Covid-19: Does ‘flat’ in Kerala mean enough room for expats, stranded?

The Covid-19 curve may have trended flat in Kerala and bending further down, but a crucial question is how long it can in the context of stranded non-residents arriving from overseas from today (Thursday), likely without proper screening. The state has already started receiving its doors to citizens trapped in other states within the country.

The first two flights from the UAE are expected to arrive with a third rescheduled to operate on Saturday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here that the state has received the operating procedure from the Union Ministries of Civil Aviation Defence in charge of coordinating the flights and the naval ships. “Two aircraft from Abu Dhabi and Dubai are expected to arrive on Tursday at Kochi and Kozhikode. Travellers must take all safety precautions and be very cautious, right from leaving their residence to the airport,” he added.

Health and Social Justice Minister KK Shailaja says department has launched four mobile apps for the four international airports in the state to record details of arriving passengers. This is expected to help health workers to screen, monitor and track them. It has also kept ready 207 hospitals and enlisted 125 private hospitals, 11,084 isolation beds and 1,679 ICU beds for those arriving during the first seven days. All medical college hospitals and district hospitals are in a state of readiness to convert as Covid-19 hospitals, if need be. Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran says more than 1.63 lakh beds are available in properties owned by his department across the state.

Source: Government of Kerala

No pre-boarding tests

Chief Minister Vijayan, however, said that he has not heard from the Prime Minister with respect to the state’s demand for mandatory pre-boarding Covid-19 tests for evacuees from overseas. The administration is keeping its fingers crossed whether this could potentially compromise the state’s enviable record of having kept the virus at bay till date. For instance, no new infection was detected in the state on Wednesday, the third time in the last four days. Seven patients under treatment had tested negative - six from Kottayam and one from Pathanamthitta. This brought the number of patients still under treatment to just 30.

The total number of confirmed cases of infection till date is 502 and those under surveillance have tapered to 14,670 - 14,402 quarantined at home and 268 isolated in hospitals. Wednesday also saw 58 persons new admissions with symptoms. In all, 34,599 samples have been sent for testing till date, with 34,063 having confirmed as negative. As part of sentinel surveillance, 2,947 samples were tested from people in the high-risk category; of these, 2,147 had tested negative on Wednesday.

Only six districts in the state had Covid-19 patients, with Kannur hosting the highest number of 18. The rest eight are free from patients as on Wednesday. Neither was any hotspot added to the current list of 89. “The decline in the number of people under surveillance is a matter of relief”, Chief Minister Vijayan said. This comparatively comfortable situation, according to Health Department officials, is now rendered vulnerable with the expected arrivals of stranded citizens from abroad.

Guidelines issued for all

Meanwhile, DIG-level police officers have been assigned to look after the security of the four international airports in the State and the Kochi port. Concerted efforts are being taken to ferry iin stranded Keralite students in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to Delhi by special non-stop trains from Delhi. As per figures, there are 1,177 students in these four States. The Chief Minister has written to counterparts of these states to facilitate the travel. Once the date of the special train is received, the stranded will be brought to one place in Delhi. The Centre is also being kept in the loop.

Till now, 6,802 citizens from other states have reached Kerala. Latest figures suggest that a little over 2.03 lakh have so far registered through the Covid Jagratha Portal; 69,108 have applied for the required passes, of which 38,862 have been issued. The bulk of those who have arrived home are from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and some from Maharashtra. Malappuram and Palakkad districts saw the highest number of arrivals, the Chief Minister added.

“Guidelines have been published and incoming citizens both from abroad and elsewhere within people are expected to follow them correctly. Those coming from hotspot areas will have to spend a week in a government quarantine centre and undergo test. If they are negative, they will be sent on a further seven-day quarantine. Positive cases, if any, will be shifted to hospitals for treatment. Pregnant women and small children will be quarantined at their homes”, the Chief Minister said. Keralites from other states and stranded here can travel back once they get permission from states where they need to go. Required passes will be issued for their travel.