Thiruvananthapuram: State Chief Secretary Tom Jose stated that there is no confusion regarding the quarantine of the evacuated expats. He said that the state is proceeding as per the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry.
The Home Ministry has stipulated a quarantine period of two weeks for the returnees. The passengers will be allowed on the special flights only after they have been tested for COVID-19, which means that they can enter the state only if they tested negative for the test. Upon entering the state, the expats will be placed in institutional quarantine for one week and if they do not exhibit any symptoms, they will be shifted to home quarantine for another week. Tom Jose said that the government has communicated with the Home Ministry about these details.
He added that institutional quarantine and home quarantine are practiced by all the states across the country. The state governments will decide on it based on the circumstances. He also said that pregnant women returning from foreign countries will be sent to home quarantine.
The expats will reach the state from foreign countries on Thursday night. They will be placed on institutional quarantine first and after one week, they will be sent to home quarantine.