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.

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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.