Arrivers from 5 more nations to be home quarantined in TN: Minister

Intensifying the fight against the deadly coronavirus, Tamil Nadu has decided to compulsorily keep people coming from Germany, France, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand under house quarantine, announced State Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar on Thursday.

“Already, people from China, Japan, Iran, Italy and South Korea are under continuous monitoring. Now, due to the extensive spread of coronavirus, people coming from these five countries will be kept under house quarantine,” the Minister said in the Assembly during a debate. In the zero hour on Thursday, all parties brought in special attention motions on coronavirus. VPB Paramasivan, the ruling party MLA from Vedasandur constituency, who is a medical doctor, said even though the State government has been taking several efforts to combat the spread of the virus, there were rumours abound on social media.

“Due to fake messages about coronavirus, even fellow MLAs refuse to shake hands and avoid speaking with others. There are several messages doing rounds on social media that people were dying in the State due to coronavirus. But none of this is true, and the government should take stern measures to stop such fake messages,” said Paramasivan.

Paramasivan also cited the case of the rumour that the virus was spreading through broiler chickens. “The Animal Husbandry department should ensure that no such rumours are doing rounds anymore,” he added.

Joining the debate, DMK’s P Saravanan, also a doctor by profession, urged the State government to distribute masks. “Though Vijaya Baskar informed that there is no need to wear masks, people are anxious about the spread of coronavirus, thus prefer wearing them. Taking into account the worries of the people, the government should distribute masks through ration shops,” said Saravanan, who incidentally came to the Assembly on Monday sporting a mask. He also asked the government whether students from the State who are studying in China were being tracked.

In his reply, Minister Vijaya Baskar said the Health department was releasing bulletins every day on the status of the virus, and urged people not to believe social media rumours. The government was continuously monitoring the 8,500 passengers landing at Chennai airport from various countries, he said.

“So far, 1.46 lakh people were screened, and 1,465 people who have come from countries that have coronavirus outbreak are being continuously monitored. So far, 74 samples have been collected. Except for one, all tested negative,” said the Minister.

There is no case of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) among the fishermen from Tamil Nadu stranded in Iran, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Replying to queries from DMK member TR Baalu and Congress’ H Vasanth Kumar on the fate of the fishermen from Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi districts, he said the Indian government was setting up facilities to take care of the stranded fishermen and ensure a steady supply of food and water to them.

“We can bring them back only after they complete their medical tests there,” he said.

The minister was answering queries of members after he had made a suo motu statement on the situation concerning Indians abroad and measures taken by the government to tackle the spread of the virus in India from passengers coming into the country.Iran is one of the countries worst affected after China, where COVID-19 emerged.

Replying to a query raised by DMK member Kanimozhi on where the quarantine centres were set up to screen and lodge passengers coming from abroad, he said “we have identified a large number of centres for quarantine and we have bigger contingency plans,” he said.

Jaishankar said India has not imposed a ban on international travellers to the country. “We have only kept in abeyance issuing of visas, especially from countries where there is an acute spread of coronavirus. We’ve introduced compulsory and discretionary quarantine (passengers coming from abroad),” he said.

After a high-level meeting of a Group of Ministers, the Central government said all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment, project visas, stand suspended till April 15. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT (5.30 pm) on March 13 at the port of departure, it said.

The External Affairs Minister said the government has to prioritise repatriation of people from the affected countries which is a massive task given the fact that Iran’s systems have been stretched to the most.

“We have to prioritise where the problem is very severe. Pilgrims are there and students are there,” he said. He said India has established a clinic in Qom in Iran, a pilgrim centre where a lot of Indians and students from Kashmir have gone.

Meanwhile, a delegation of AIADMK MPs met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here on Thursday and sought his intervention in the quick repatriation of 592 fishermen from Kanyakumari who are languishing in Iran due to coronavirus threat.