The state will request the Centre to conduct a ‘Truenat Rapid Test’ for everyone before boarding the flights, said reports.
All passengers arriving in Kerala, including the ones of the Vande Bharat Mission flights, will have to now furnish a Covid negative test result before departure, said Indian media reports.
The decision to make a negative certificate mandatory for all returnees was taken at the Cabinet meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala’s capital, on Wednesday.
The state will request the Centre to conduct a ‘Truenat Rapid Test’ for everyone before boarding the flights, said reports.
The Indian embassies in the concerned country has to arrange this facility at the airports. With the facility, results will be known in an hour. Only those who test negative will be allowed to fly, Kerala will tell Centre.
Last week, the Kerala government said only passengers on charter flights to Kerala were required to produce a ‘COVID19 negative’ test result, starting June 20.
If the testing is not made mandatory, there are chances for widespread Covid-19 cases in Kerala, it is evaluated.
Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan 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.
