Five states say incoming fliers to stay in quarantine

With domestic flight operations set to resume on Monday, at least five states and one Union Territory have decided that incoming passengers would have to stay in home or institutional quarantine.

The governments of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Assam, and the administration of Jammu and Kashmir have decided that arriving passengers will have to stay in quarantine.

The Kerala government Friday said the passengers would have to stay in home or institutional quarantine for 14 days.

Kerala, which had only 16 active cases on May 8, has seen 200 new cases in the past two weeks. The surge is attributed to the arrival of evacuation flights from the Middle East and the entry of people from other states. On Friday, Kerala recorded 42 fresh cases, the largest single-day hike since the state reported its first case on January 30.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media, “Quarantining would be mandatory for all those who reach Kerala via domestic flights. Whatever be the mode of travel to Kerala, all those who come from outside have to go into quarantine. However, it would not be binding on those who come to the state for 1-2 days for business purposes and then go back. But, this category of passengers will also have to observe necessary preventive guidelines.”

Meanwhile, with at least 15 flights expected to arrive in Srinagar from next week, Kashmir divisional commander P K Pole told The Indian Express, “All those passengers arriving at Srinagar airport will be put under administrative quarantine and tested.”

In Karnataka, domestic passengers from high-risk states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — will have to stay in institutional quarantine for seven days, followed by 7 days of home quarantine. Those returning from other states will have to stay in home quarantine for 14 days.

The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have decided to quarantine people arriving on flights as well as other modes of transport.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that people arriving by any mode would have to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has, meanwhile, said it plans to screen all passengers on arrival at the Mumbai airport and quarantine them at home for 14 days. It said the state and the Centre will discuss this subject to formalise the guidelines.

Indian express