The confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection for an assistant terminal manager at Calicut International Airport, Karipur, has spread fears among the expatriates and their relatives who use the airport for their return from abroad.
About three dozen people, including the airport director, have been asked to go in quarantine. All of them were said to have had interactions with the airport official who tested positive for the virus.
Primary contacts
He was one of the eight persons who were confirmed to have acquired the virus through primary contacts on Saturday.
The Malabar Development Forum (MDF) on Saturday alleged that there was a deliberate attempt to tarnish Karipur airport. The forum said fabricated stories were doing the rounds on the social media spreading news that Karipur would soon be closed down in the wake of the COVID-19 confirmation for an official. K.M. Basheer, president of the forum, said it was not the first time that an airport official in the country contracted the virus. “Several other airports too had seen their officials getting COVID-19 and going in quarantine. There is nothing new about it. Some people out there want to see Karipur airport destroyed. They are making use of the COVID-19 situation for their benefit,” said Mr. Basheer.
In a memorandum submitted to the government, the forum demanded that the government stop insisting that NRIs returning by chartered flights from abroad prove themselves COVID-19 negative through expensive tests.
Mr. Basheer said that expatriates were already being charged heavily for chartered flights. Asking them to spend about ₹10,000 for COVID-19 test will be like fleecing them, he said. He warned the government of a negative backlash if it did not withdraw its directive insisting that only COVID-19 negative NRIs be allowed to return home.
