E-pass, home quarantine must for inbound flyers

E-pass, home quarantine must for inbound flyers

Test Only For Symptomatic Passengers Landing In TN

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:25.05.2020

Domestic passengers who land at Chennai airport should have an e-pass issued by the Tamil Nadu government and will have to undergo 14 days home quarantine.

A SOP (standard operating procedure) released by the state government on handling of domestic passengers said all inbound passengers shall undergo thermal screening for any symptoms of Covid-19 and not swab tests.

“Asymptomatic people shall undergo home quarantine for 14 days. Passengers who do not have a home in Tamil Nadu and register for paid institutional quarantine (hotel) shall be sent for quarantine to designated hotels. In case they develop any symptoms, they shall inform the district call centre (1077) or report to the nearest government hospital or inform district nodal officer.”

It is mandatory for all the domestic air passengers flying into Tamil Nadu to register their details online and obtain a TN e-pass through the epass portal. After booking the flight ticket, the passenger shall register his/ her details on https://tnepass.tnerga.org, duly selecting the airport of arrival in TN. It can be picked up from Chennai airport after arrival for the first few days.

All the passengers will be stamped with ‘quarantine’ seal with date with indelible ink before they leave the airport. All domestic departure travellers shall undergo thermal screening as stipulated by the ministry of civil aviation and only those without symptoms will be allowed to fly. For the passengers leaving Tamil Nadu, the boarding pass will be used as an authorised document for movement from their home/place of stay to the airport.

The comprehensive guidelines issued by the state health department on May 18 mandated testing of all people coming from other states. This has been waived in Sunday’s guidelines. Only symptomatic passengers will be isolated and subjected to RTPCR test.

Meanwhile, the TN government allowed operation of any number of outgoing flights from the state. “Flights to Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy can be operated. Due to high disease incidence, flights from Gujarat and Maharashtra may be kept at the barest minimum possible,” TN chief secretary Shanmugam said.