Kerala offers free PCR COVID-19 test for travellers from UAE at airports
26 Feb 2021
AM Abdussalam,
Correspondent
Bowing to protests from expatriate community, Kerala government decided to make the mandatory RT-PCR COVID test free for all international passengers, including the UAE, arriving at airports.
Minister for Health KK Shailaja announced the decision in Trivandrum on Friday.
The state government will conduct the test for free and send the results to the people by SMS without any delay.
Minister Shailaja pleaded helplessness in waiving a second test, and said the state is doing what it can by deciding to make it free for air passengers arriving at Kerala airports.
Updated:
‘Government ignoring plight of NRKs’
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A health worker holds swab samples for COVID-19 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test. File.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
‘Government ignoring plight of NRKs’
The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), an expatriates’ forum affiliated to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), has urged the State government to drop RT-PCR test for Non-Resident Keralites at airports when they return home.
Ibrahim Elettil, president, KMCC, Dubai; O.K. Ibrahim, vice president, and other functionaries told the media on Wednesday that all expatriates who return to Kerala had earlier been asked to undergo RT-PCR test 72 hours before travel. From February 22, the test has been made mandatory after their arrival here. This has to be followed by a seven-day quarantine and one more RT-PCR test.
Covid-19: Free air tickets for Indian passengers stranded in UAE msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.