Kerala issues revised norms for international air passengers

The Health Department of Kerala on Saturday issued revised guidelines for international air passengers arriving in Kerala.

As per the new guidelines, all the international passengers, irrespective of their duration of stay in Kerala, need to undergo self- symptom surveillance and if found symptomatic undertake an RT-PCR test.

The guidelines were issued based on the recommendations of an expert panel, said State Health Minister Veena George in a press release.

”Random testing of two per cent of international travellers by flight irrespective of the country of departure to be done free of cost (state government to bear the cost) and the selection of the passengers is to be done by the airline officers,” the guidelines said.

The Minister said in order to mitigate the third wave of the pandemic, the State Health Department strengthened the eSanjeevani system, a portal, to deliver healthcare service to people on a tele-medicine platform.

The eSanjeevani has now more doctors, she said.

”In the COVID OP which has been functioning round the clock, there will be 15 to 20 doctors during the day and four doctors at night. The normal waiting period is one minute and if it increases, more doctors will be added to the system,” the Minister said in the release. Last month, over 18,000 people used the service of the portal and there was an 800 per cent increase when compared with previous months, she said. In the OP that functions from 8 AM to 8 PM, consultation can be availed of for any ailments. Doctors spent an average of 6 minutes 15 seconds for each patient. Speciality doctors are also available.

Kerala witnessed a dip in the daily COVID-19 infection rate for the third consecutive day today by reporting 33,538 new positive cases and pushed the caseload to 62,44,654.

On Friday, there were 38,684 fresh infections.