Amidst quarantine preparations by various state governments for Indian citizens who will be returning from abroad, the chief ministers of Punjab and Kerala warned the Union government of a high risk of spread of the infection.
Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh said there had been a spike in cases in the state after Punjabis residing outside Punjab started coming back from Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
The CM said around 20,000 international travellers are expected to return to Punjab in the next three to four weeks, in addition to around 12,000 who had registered in other states for coming back.
He also reiterated his demand that the decision on the classification of zones red, orange or green for COVID-19 cases should be left to the states who could demarcate the same “as per the ground realities”.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday cautioning him about the risk posed by returning citizens. About 2.5 lakh quarantine beds were being made ready by government and two lakh anti-body test kits being ordered.
The state also expressed concerns over the priorities being made by the centre in identifying NRIs for returning.
