THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With three more NRKs testing positive for COVID-19, the Health Department has decided to strengthen surveillance of expats who arrived in the state from Thursday. Meanwhile, considering the new scenario, a section of the officers has raised an alarm against the quarantine protocol for foreign returnees.
On Sunday, out of the seven confirmed cases, five were returnees. While three were passengers of the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight which landed on May 7, the other two were returnees from Chennai.
With this, the number of expats who turned positive upon return becomes five. The seven positive cases are from Wayanad (three), Thrissur (two) and one each from Ernakulam and Malappuram. Of this, two cases from Wayanad got infected due to local contact and one each from Wayanad and Ernakulam had a travel history from Chennai.
“Three cases (two from Thrissur and one from Malappuram) had come from Abu Dhabi on May 7. On Saturday also, two expats who returned from Abu Dhabi and Dubai tested positive. The chances are high that these passengers could have transmitted the virus to the co-passengers. Thus, regarding quarantine, no exemption has to be made. Pregnant women, children and other exempted categories should also be traced and put under institutional quarantine. Testing should also be ensured,” said an officer of the Health Department. Said an infectious disease expert, “Even if the safety precautions are taken, there could be a number of chances that an infected person could transmit the virus.”
According to the expert, though the state is expecting a spike in cases, adequate precautions have to be taken for not forming a cluster of cases from the infected. For that, putting all returnees without exemption under institutional quarantine is suggested.