Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the State was in consultation with the Centre to finalise the modalities for bringing back expatriates from pandemic-ravaged Gulf nations.
Indian embassies were working hard to arrange COVID-19 testing facilities for expatriates at their port of departure.
Mr. Vijayan reiterated that Kerala would give operational clearance only to those airline companies and chartered flight operators willing to ferry infected and non-infected persons on separate flights from June 25. As of now, the government saw no reason to extend the date.
The risk of community spread loomed large in the State and it could not remain dumbstruck with worry. It had to strive to keep the rate of transmission at manageable levels, he said.
Oppn. charge
The Opposition’s allegation that the government had created a stumbling block to the return of expatriates by insisting COVID-19 negative certification as a necessary condition for boarding flights home was misleading. Such false propaganda would jeopardise the State’s hitherto successful containment strategy, Mr. Vijayan said.
The government could not allow infected persons to travel cooped up with other passengers. The risk of transmission in air-conditioned airline cabins was huge. Arrivals from within the country and outside had contributed to the increase in the State’s COVID-19 caseload, he added.
The Union Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the Chief Secretary, Kerala, that the UAE has provided a rapid antibody testing kit for expatriates seeking to leave for India. Qatar has employed a mobile phone app, which testified to the coronavirus status of Indian emigrants and their citizens. Kuwait has agreed to open up COVID-19 testing facility in more airport terminals. The Centre has told the State that tests cost ₹1000 each.
Expatriates in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia might find it relatively more difficult to get tested before boarding flights home. The Saudi government was yet to validate the rapid antibody tests conducted in individual private hospitals.
The government was sworn to bring Keralites home without putting them through unwanted difficulties. Kerala would leave none behind, Mr. Vijayan said.
