‘Test a must,’ says Kerala CM on certificates for W Asia returnees

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday defended his government’s move of making Covid-free certificates mandatory for all passengers returning from West Asia from June 20, saying it was in the state’s larger interest. As many as 200-odd chartered and 70 flights as part of the Vande Bharat Mission for the repatriation of stranded Indians abroad are scheduled to arrive in Kerala.

The state earlier insisted on Cvoid-free certificates for those returning on chartered flights. It added the conditionality to Vande Bharat flights on Tuesday.

Vijayan asked the opposition to stop playing politics at the time of pandemic while insisting the state has been consistent with its demand. “Some people are creating confusion and misleading stranded people... We want to bring them back. But the test is a must as we cannot take any chances.”

He added the number of Covid-19 cases went up after people started coming from abroad and other states. He said 179 Vande Bharat and 124 chartered flights have brought back 84,000 people so far. Vijayan insisted Indian embassies can arrange for testing if facilities are unavailable in some countries. He said tests were conducted when people were evacuated from Italy and other European countries last month. “Bringing back people without testing is really dangerous. If one passenger is infected, he will transmit it to others.”

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala president K Surendran accused Vijayan of planning to sabotage Vande Bharat evacuations by putting “unreasonable demands”.