Thursday, March 12, 2020

Coronavirus scare: Passengers sent home for 28 days of seclusion from Kochi airport

Kochi: Medical teams have started segregating passengers who arrive at the international terminal of the Cochin International Airport from countries hit by coronavirus and are compulsorily sending them to 28 days of home quarantine, district administration officials said on Wednesday. The asymptomatic passengers were taken from the airport to their homes in an ambulance after they were asked to sign an affidavit stating that they will strictly follow the instructions of medical teams and will remain at home for the stipulated number of days.

Simultaneously, panchayat and police personnel in their respective areas have also been informed about the passengers sent for home quarantine.


“As many as 14 passengers came forward informing that they will go home only after they tested negative for coronavirus. Until then they will remain under observation in hospital,” said a health official.

“We can’t lodge all the passengers at a single location. It is best to send them home from airport by ambulance. It will help them avoid contact with others. It is safe to lodge asymptomatic people at home quarantine itself. Lodging them at a different location in quarantine will lead to more problems and they will get more tensed,” said a health official.

Of the 52-people who arrived from Rome on Wednesday, three passengers refused to cooperate with health officials. “They claimed they were not suffering from any illness and asked why there is so much mayhem here. But we convinced them about the need to take precautions,” said the official. As many as 35 passengers were sent to Aluva District Hospital for keeping them under observation. A majority of them were later sent to their homes.

Meanwhile, isolation wards were opened at more government hospitals on the district. As many as 10 rooms were opened at Aluva District Hospital and 40 at Muvattupuzha Taluk Hospital. Directions have been issued to government taluk hospitals in Perumbavoor and Fort Kochi to remove patients from pay wards so that passengers coming from Covid-hit countries, can be placed under observation.
12/03/20 Times of India
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