The State government has decided to allow Keralites returning home from other parts of the country to undergo home quarantine rather than institutional quarantine, provided they do not have any symptoms.
The guidelines for observing home quarantine properly will be officially issued soon. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, briefing the media here on Saturday, said the government had decided to make this concession and alter its earlier stand on necessary institutional quarantine for all returning to Kerala from other States following the recommendations of an expert group headed by Dr. B. Ekbal.
Mr. Vijayan said the decision to send non-resident Keralites from other States on home quarantine was taken, as Kerala had proven that home quarantine could be implemented effectively with the active cooperation of local self government bodies and people.
The decision was also occasioned by the fact that the State could be overwhelmed, given the huge number of people waiting to get home from abroad as well as the rest of the country. Mr. Vijayan said those coming from other States into Kerala would undergo a medical check-up on arrival. If they did not have any symptoms, they would be sent on home quarantine for 14 days. Those found to be having any kind of symptoms would be made to undergo PCR test and then sent to COVID care hospitals.
If those in home quarantine developed any symptoms, they would be tested and further medical care would be made available. Only those with symptoms would be tested using PCR.
Mr. Vijayan said the government was trying to get antibody kits for testing and that these would be utilised as and when these became available. He said all pregnant women who came on flights in the past two days were allowed to go on home quarantine. However, if they required any kind of medical attention, they would not be able to opt for the hospital of their choice. They would have to first get in touch with the Health Department’s control room and proceed as per their advice.
In all districts, nodal officers had been given the task of coordinating the arrival of NRKs and organising their quarantine arrangements, he said. All quarantine centres run by the government would have a doctor and ambulance facility. The LSGs and field health workers would be in-charge of monitoring the quarantine centres.
The government also created a COVID-19 e-jagratha app for assisting NRKs with accessing medical help.
