It is not just Malayalis returning in chartered flights who will be asked to produce a COVID-19 negative certificate before getting on the plane. Kerala government now wants those coming in as part of the Vande Bharat Mission, too, to show such a 'COVID-free' certificate. The more accurate Reverse Transcription - Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test is not necessary. Cheaper and quicker antibody tests will do.
The decision to make a negative certificate mandatory for all returnees was taken at the Cabinet meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. In fact, the Kerala government had wanted the Centre to insist on at least rapid tests for returnees even before the Vande Bharat Mission had begun in the first week of May. The Centre was then indifferent to the proposal.
Now with returnees triggering a new COVID-19 surge in Kerala, the government has once again brought up the demand. This is likely to affect passengers in 60-odd Vande Bharat Mission flights scheduled till June 23, and over 750 chartered flights scheduled to arrive during the whole of June. At least, one lakh expatriates are poised to return in June alone.
The insistence on a COVID-19 negative would virtually derail the return dreams of many Malayalis stuck abroad. For one, a COVID-19 test is said to be highly costly in the Gulf. In the United Arab Emirates, a test would cost upwards of Rs 7000. In Saudi Arabia, it is as high as Rs 30,000.
But it is not just enough to cough up the money. Hospitals and labs should be willing to test their samples. In most foreign countries, to conserve fast depleting stock of test kits, tests are done only on symptomatic people. Asymptomatics are simply not tested.
And even if the tests are done, there could be huge delays in getting the results. This could effectively abort the travel plans of those who had already booked their tickets.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on June 14 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to direct Indian embassies abroad to facilitate cheap or free tests for expatriates wishing to return to India. It is unclear how embassies would source large numbers of RT-PCR or antibody test kits.
Pinarayi said the government had nothing against returning non-residents but wanted to insulate the local community from getting infected. Nearly 85 per cent of cases reported since May 4 in Kerala have come from abroad.
A top source said the Kerala government was also aware of the difficulties a 'COVID-free' certificate would impose on non-residents, especially the cost and the prioritisation that keeps out asymptomatics.
"We have made it very clear to the Centre that even non-confirmatory rapid testing would be enough before boarding. We have also told the Centre that positive cases can be brought back separately in exclusive flights. Our only concern is that mixing the infected with the non-infected could beat our efforts to check the spread of the virus," the official said.