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Two of the 359 expatriates brought in from the Gulf region as part of the Vande Bharat Mission, the repatriation exercise to return stranded Indian expatriates abroad, have tested positive for covid-19 in Kerala, the minister said Saturday. in chief, Pinarayi Vijayan.
This could mark the start of the third wave of infections in Kerala: its first wave of infection started with three returnees from Wuhan from China, and the second wave began with returnees from Italy, Gulf countries, among others, just before the national closure. of airports.
The two returned from Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Thursday to Kozhikode and Kochi airports respectively, the CM said. All his companions were not allowed to go home after the return, and they were placed in institutional quarantine. The infection will be evaluated as they become symptomatic, according to state officials.
The large number of cases comes at a time when it had become one of the few Indian states that has successfully flattened the virus curve so far. Of the total of 505 registered infections, except 17 active infections and 3 victims, the rest 484 have recovered in the state. It had reduced the number of active infections from 300 a month ago to 30 on Wednesday.
From over 100 critical points until a few weeks ago, the state now has only 33 critical points. Of more than one lakh of people under observation a month ago, the state now only has 23,930 under observation. So far it has tested 36,648 samples, and 36,002 have returned as negative. On Friday, one hundred days after its first infection, Kerala registered only one new new infection.
On Friday, however, Vijayan had warned the public not to drop their guard, as the state is at risk of a third round of infections from returning expatriates. “We should see that a third wave does not occur. We must not leave room for complacency. In fact, we should be more careful than ever,” he said.
The Abu Dhabi flight had taken 181 passengers, including 49 pregnant women and four children, to Cochin International Airport in the Ernakulam district. The Dubai flight had taken 182 passengers to Karipur International Airport in the Malappuram district, including 19 pregnant women, five babies, 51 people with various illnesses and six people in wheelchairs. In addition to flights from the Gulf region, 698 Indians are being transported from the Maldives to Kochi via the Indian Navy warship INS Jalashwa.
The state had developed a protocol where all returnees had to be in mandatory institutional quarantine for seven days and then quarantined in the home for another seven days. Pregnant women and children were exempt from this and were allowed to quarantine at home for 14 days. Awaiting broader quarantine measures, Kerala has also prepared nearly 300,000 quarantine beds, ultraviolet tunnels at airports, measures to disinfect passengers’ luggage as part of preparations to welcome those returning home in the midst of the pandemic.
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