Ker govt sticks to stand on COVID-19 negative certificate for overseas returnees

PTI, Jun 18, 2020, 8:26 AM IST

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Wednesday, June 17 stuck to its stand that expatriates have to obtain COVID-19 negative certificates before returning home from foreign countries to protect others and prevent further spread of the virus in the state as it slammed “misinformation” campaign by those criticising the guideline.

Irrespective of whether the Keralites are taking flights under the Vande Bharat mission or chartered flights arranged by various organisations, they should possess the negative certificate, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

In case countries lack facilities to conduct the tests, the Central government should arrange them through embassies because it was not possible to bring the infected patients along with other passengers, he said.

The Centre should explore the possibility of arranging separate flights for those infected, Vijayan said.

Facing flak over the stand for negative certificates, he sought to explain that his government was ready to welcome those who tested positive for the deadly virus provided they come by a separate flight and not along with other passengers.

If the infected were allowed to travel with other passengers, it would result in the spread of the virus as there were pregnant women, children and elders travelling on Vande Bharat flights and there was possibility of them contracting the pathogen, he said.

“We have never been against those coming to the state. All we have asked is to test the ex-pats. Those flying by Spice Jet are already doing it. COVID test is mandatory and its the same norm for all. It is not safe for the passengers to have a few infected people among them.

“We are ready to welcome all the COVID-19 positive patients if they come on a special flight exclusively for them,” the Chief Minister told reporters here.

The Chief Minister said it was “really unfortunate” that “a misinformation” campaign was being carried on and even a Union Minister was also a part of it.

“Do not try to play politics using the health of the public during a disaster. Some attempts are being done to undermine our security when people are coming from other states,” he said.

Slamming the Kerala government, Union Minister V Muraleedharan had said it was impractical to conduct COVID-19 tests for all the returning expats through the embassies.

“This decision will affect those who want to return to the state from abroad,” Muraledharan had said, accusing the Vijayan government of running away from its responsibilities.

Describing the decision as cruel, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the test results cannot be obtained in 48 hours, it takes four-seven days.

“Besides, it would also impose a financial burden on the jobless returnees,” he said.

Protesting against the alleged apathy of the state and central governments towards expats, Chennithala said he would observe a fast in front of the Secretariat on June 19.

Vijayan on Wednesday said that private airlines were already insisting on COVID negative results before allowing passengers to fly back home.

If conducting RT-PCR tests for passengers was difficult, the Centre could do the antibody tests and that the “True Nat testing” is cheaper and gives results faster which is suitable for travellers, Vijayan said, reiterating the LDF government’s stand.

At present, 1.5 per cent of the people who come to Kerala from abroad had tested positive for coronavirus and when the number of passengers increases by more than 200,000, the number of positive cases are likely to increase drastically and this can lead to community spread.

We welcome all pravasis to come back, whether they come from abroad or from other states, whether they are sick or not and will provide the necessary treatment. There is no change
in our stance,” he said.

At the same time, the government must be vigilant to prevent an outbreak. “If we do not take adequate precautions, the spread of disease will be out of control,” he said as the state has been witnessing fresh cases on a regular basis since non-resident Keralites started returning with the easing of lockdown restrictions since last month.

Vijayan had on Sunday written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to make arrangements for carrying out COVID-19 testing for those returning from various countries through Indian embassies abroad.

The request was included in the set of proposals sent by the state government after Modi’s video Conference with Chief Ministers on Tuesday.