State, Centre differ on period of quarantine

Kerala says 7 days; MHA wants double

07/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER

The Union and State governments do not appear to be on the same page on the enforcement of quarantine norms for Non-Resident Indians (NRI) who are returning home from Thursday. A section of Health Department staff believe this could turn out to be problematic.

The Kerala government has declared that those returning from abroad would have to be on a mandatory seven-day quarantine at State-controlled facilities irrespective of their COVID-19 infection status or age. The Standard Operating Procedure released by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday night, however, says the returnees would have to give an undertaking that they are willing to undergo institutional quarantine for a minimum of two weeks at their own cost. They would also have to submit results of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RC-PCR) test to the Indian missions where they have registered themselves.