Kochi: An evacuation flight from Dubai carrying 177 passengers landed here at 8.15 pm on Monday. The Air India Express flight IX 0434 took off from Dubai at 2.45 p.m. local time. The passengers comprised 85 woman, and five kids while the remaining were male passengers.
A flight from Bahrain also landed in Kozhikode International Airport with around 184 expats. All first went through the thermal scanner and then to the health help desk, where they were explained the protocols to be adhered to during the quarantine period.
Anyone who exhibited COVID-19 symptoms was to be immediately moved to a separate area and after all the formalities, taken directly to the nearby state run hospitals.
Since pregnant women and other categories like kids, and aged persons are allowed to be in quarantine at their home, they will be able to go home on taxis or in their own vehicles.
Read: COVID-19 LIVE: Death toll rises to 2,293; cases climb to 70,756
The remaining are sent on state road transport buses to their respective districts for a 14 day quarantine period at state-run corona care centres. This flight was part of the evacuation undertaken by the Central government to bring back Indians stranded in foreign lands due to the coronavirus lockdown. All baggage of passengers will be disinfected before owners can claim it.
The Vande Bharat mission has seen Air India Express operate flights primarily from Gulf countries to Kerala, and other south Indian cities. The first flight was operated on May 7, bringing back Indian citizens from Abu Dhabi to Kochi.
Seven new cases of coronavirus were reported on Monday in Kerala - almost all who had returned from the state from elsewhere in the country or abroad, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. Of the seven, four came from Maharashtra, and one each from Chennai and Kuwait. An 11-year-old child from Wayanad also has turned positive, he said.
In a Facebook post, Vijayan also said that 489 cases have been cured in the state so far, and at present, there are 27 positive cases under treatment.
(With inputs from agencies)
