People in ‘own vehicles’ can enter State from today

06/05/2020, DENNIS S. JESUDASAN,CHENNAI

Natives of Tamil Nadu stranded in other States due to the COVID-19 lockdown would be allowed to return “in their own vehicles” from Wednesday. Those who have registered themselves on the government portal nonresidenttamil.org would be given passes and subjected to medical checks at the State’s borders.

“Those who are asymptomatic [for COVID-19] would be asked to remain under home quarantine,” a senior official told The Hindu.Meanwhile, the outflow of people in their ‘own vehicles’ from Tamil Nadu began on Tuesday. “The government has identified quarantine facilities in various districts for around 70,000 persons, who would be coming into Tamil Nadu,” the official added.

Those who arrive at the inter-State border with symptoms of the disease would be sent to the quarantine facilities. “Medical teams at the border points would decide who should be sent to institutional quarantine. They would check whether the person has Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) or Influenza-like Illnesses (ILL) and decide accordingly,” the official said. “As of now, we are planning to send all international passengers [who are likely to arrive later this week] to institutional quarantine,” he added. When asked about the possibility of special trains or government-arranged vehicles ferrying migrant workers, he said this would be sorted out soon.

Some people from Kota, including students, were allowed to enter Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.