Kerala CM backs resumption of domestic flights with riders

Thiruvananthapuram, May 22 (PTI) Virtually backing
resumption of domestic air services, Kerala Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday that all those who reach the
state by such flights will have to undergo 14 days quarantine
as per the lockdown protocol but exempted people coming for
business needs from this.
     Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had on
Wednesday announced that domestic passenger flight services
will resume from May 25 in a calibrated manner.
     "Some business executives may visit the state for a
meeting or something and we cannot demand 14 days quarantine
for them," Vijayan said, adding that necessary
healthprecautions will be taken in their case.
     Earlier in the day, state health minister K K
Shailaja had said domestic flyers arriving in Kerala must
undergo strict home quarantine as per the lockdown guidelines,
in view of increasing COVID-19 cases in the state.
     "There is no change in that. Most people will be
coming from the major hotspots of the country," she said.
     In the highest single day spike in COVID-19 cases
in Kerala so far, 42 people, including 21 returnees from
Maharashtra, tested positive for the virus today, taking the
infection tally to 732 while over 80,000 are under
observation.
     Kerala had reported its fourth fatality on
Thursday night after a 73-year-old woman, who had travelled
from Maharashtra to Thrissur, along with her son in a
taxi,died.
     The last rites of the woman were held this morning
following COVID-19 protocol.
     Vijayan pointed out that the increase in cases were
not due to relaxations in lockdown curbs, but because many
Keralites from abroad and other states were returning.
     However, the state cannot close the door on its
own people, the chief minister said. PTI RRT BN
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)