KOCHI: The experience gained from tackling two Nipah outbreaks and back-to-back floods has come handy for the Tourism Department in facing up the challenges posed by the detection of novel coronavirus in the state.
In fact, the department coordinated with the health department to ensure that travellers - both foreign and domestic - who visited China or other affected countries are tracked and screened for any disease symptom.
“We have taken numerous measures to screen travellers coming to Kerala. Additional precautionary measures were introduced to take care of tourists,” said Kerala Tourism director P Bala Kiran.
District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) officials in each district got in touch with hotels and homestays on a daily basis to find about the tourist arrival.
They collected details, including phone numbers and emails, of both foreign and Indian nationals arriving from or transited through Wuhan or other parts of China or any country where the virus cases were detected. These were passed on to respective district medical officers.
DMOs directly contacted these travellers and initiated surveillance.
“A directive was given to hotels and homestays about taking care of tourists coming from China or other countries where coronavirus cases were detected,” an official said.
M P Sivadathan, director of Kerala State Homestay and Tourism Society (K-HATS), lauded the department’s efforts in tackling the crisis.
“After the Nipah outbreak and floods, the department has adopted a professional approach to tackle such situation. Previous crises were overcome by active marketing activities. We need such concerted efforts this time too,” he said.