Kerala CM makes it mandatory for all who come from red zone to be quarantined for 14 days

As India's biggest repatriation exercise 'Vande Bharat' Mission kick-started on Thursday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that all those people who are coming from the red zones will have to be in a mandatory institutional quarantine for 14 days directly from the check-post. 

Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister informed that two flights from the UAE and one flight from Saudi Arabia reached Kerala on Friday. According to him, while the flight from Abu Dhabi to Kochi came with 181 passengers including four infants, 15 children under the age of 10 and 49 pregnant women, the flight from Dubai to Kozhikode had 182 passengers including five children. Another flight from Riyadh to Kozhikode had 149 expatriates. He further added that a flight from Doha is expected to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday with people from Thiruvanthapuram, Kanyakumari, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Pathanamthitta districts. 

According to the CM, around 86,679 Malayalees stranded in other states due to lockdown have registered for passes. Out of these, 37,891 are from red zones. Further, till date, 16,385 people have come back to Kerala, out of which 8,912 are from red zones. Meanwhile, he also informed that around 24,088 migrant labourers have gone to their native states from Kerala in 21 special non-stop trains till May 7. 

Read: Mumbai: BMC arranges over 3,000 rooms in 88 hotels to quarantine evacuees

'Vande Bharat' Mission

In a major relief for Indians stranded abroad, the Centre on Monday announced that their travel will be arranged via aircraft and naval ships in a phased manner. The Ministry of Home Affairs also issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the movement of the returnees. The mission will go on for 7 days and will rescue stranded Indians from over 11 countries in 64 Air India flights carrying over 14,800 people. The flights will take off for 12 countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Singapore and the US. 

Read: BMC amends another order on closure of non-essentials, now allows hardware shops to reopen

COVID-19 in India

According to the latest update from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the number of total Coronavirus cases in the country has climbed to 56,342, including 37,916 active cases. While 1,886 deaths have been reported overall, around 16,540 people have been cured/discharged/migrated. Meanwhile, Maharashtra and Gujarat have the highest number of cases in the country. 

Read: Kerala launches 'Ente Sweet Challenge' campaign to energise teens amid COVID-19 lockdown

Read: Kerala: Plea in High Court challenges move to make Aarogya Setu app mandatory

 (With ANI Inputs)