THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The focus on people arriving from abroad to prevent Omicron surge has put them at a disadvantage over the local population. The Keralite expatriates visiting the state are the worst affected as the boarding and quarantine rules will cost them in terms of money and peace of mind. The rules are getting stricter at a time the health experts said that focusing only on international travellers is illogical to prevent a virus that has already made its presence in the community.
The state reported 5,296 new positive Covid cases and 27,859 active patients on Friday. The number of newly infected persons almost doubled in 10 days. In other states, the numbers have seen a huge surge which, according to health experts, are led by Omicron. The Central government has made carrying an RT-PCR negative certificate obtained 72 hours prior to the flight mandatory for passengers arriving in the country. The test result should be then uploaded on Air Suvidha portal.
However, the expatriates complain that they face an inordinate delay in getting the test results, forcing them to reschedule the flights or cancel the tickets altogether. The travel woes increased after the government recently withdrew exceptions given for emergency travel such as death of a kin. “I had spent hours in the hospital to get my samples tested. When it became clear that there would be a delay in getting the results on time, I rescheduled my travel. Yet , I could not board the rescheduled flight because the results took longer than I expected,” said Sujith S who works in Doha.
According to him, travellers like him are affected as there are no clear instructions to follow in such circumstances. The Gulf countries, especially Qatar, are coping with a surge in Covid cases stretching their the testing capacities. “We have taken up the issue at various levels including the Indian diplomatic mission in Qatar. These restrictions and delays are a cause of concern for people who have already booked their tickets,” said K Harikrishnan Namboothiri, chief executive of Norka Roots, the government agency which acts as a forum for addressing the problems of nonresident Keralites.
“Unfortunately, these issues have cropped up at a time when people, who were affected adversely during the first two waves, are making a return to the Gulf countries,” he added. Health experts have termed the testing and quarantine rules targeting international travellers illogical. “The rules targeting travellers do not serve any purpose other than customary. It is wrong to assume that only travellers carry the virus. It is spreading locally and most of them go undetected,” said internal medicine specialist and public health activist Dr N M Arun.
According to him, practical measures should be adopted to help the people visiting the home states for various purposes. Those in home quarantine should be allowed to go out and carry out their activities if they carry a negative result of a rapid antigen test taken on the day, added Dr Arun. The Central government has made stricter quarantine rules for all international travellers from January 11. All passengers who test negative have to undergo a seven-day quarantine and a re-test on the eighth day, followed by seven-day selfhealth monitoring.
However, the treatment guidelines released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on January 5 have taken a practical approach to deal with Omicron surge. These only mandat e s even-day home quarantine for people with mild or asymptomatic Covid. They stand discharged if there is no fever for three successive days and there is no need for a re-test. In the case of Omicroninfected travellers, the state government had issued a state- ment that they must be discharged only after being monitored for a few days even if they tested negative for Covid.
In a bind