Kerala is in discussion with airline companies and embassies in Gulf countries to make available TrueNat Covid test kits for testing Pravasis before they embark on their flight to India. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made the announcement on Thursday, June 18. `
“There are already testing facilities in the UAE and Qatar. But these are not available in some Gulf countries. The government will make available TrueNat kits in these places. This requires the cooperation of the airline companies and the permission of the Indian embassies in the respective countries. Discussions are going on in this respect. So these kits will be useful in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman to facilitate the testing of expatriates returning from these countries,” her told reporters here.
The Chief Minister also said that the state had enough testing kits to send them abroad and the modalities will be worked out once permission was got.
Meanwhile, the state recorded one covid death and 97 new cases on Thursday. A 28-year-old driver in the Excise Department in Kannur died after being infected with the virus.
Of the new active cases, 65 people came from abroad (Kuwait-25, UAE-17, Saudi Arabia-11, Qatar-7, Kazakhstan-3, Oman-1 & Bahrain-1), 29 from other states (Maharashtra-12, Delhi-7, Tamil Nadu-5, Haryana-2, Gujarat-2 & Orissa-1) and three from primary contact (two in Kollam district & one in Ernakulam district).
The district-wise details of those who tested positive are 14 persons from Palakkad district, 13 in Kollam district, 11 each from Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts, nine in Alappuzha district, six each from Idukki, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, five each in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode districts, four each from Malappuram and Kannur districts, and three from Kasargod district.
He said that 2,79,657 people have till now returned to the state from other states and abroad. Of these, 1,172 were diagnosed with Covid infection of which 669 were from foreign countries and 503 from other states.
