Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Thursday that a grim forecast that the disease might spike in Kerala in August had compelled the State to impose antibody tests on returnees as an extra tier of protection against the threat of community transmission. The tests and the process of Customs clearance could detain arrivals at airports for hours. They would require food and water at affordable rates. Airports should not overcharge them.
The government considered asymptomatic travellers as potential community transmission risks irrespective of whether they tested COVID-19 negative or positive at airports. It was acutely aware that arrivals accounted for the spike in new infections in Kerala.
Detailed log
Ideally, returnees should keep a detailed log of their daily activities, including the registration particulars of the vehicle that ferried them home and the persons they met, if at all, en route. They should head for quarantine directly and not make any social visits or participate in parties or receptions.
The police would tail expatriates home and enforce the government’s stay-at-home orders. Health workers would retest them after quarantine.
Mr. Vijayan said the police had repurposed their social role as enforcers of the COVID-19 health protocol and behaviour code. He asked civic-minded people to WhatsApp protocol breaches to police control room. The police would tighten restrictions in Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Ernakulam.
