Thiruvananthapuram, May 11 (): With Indian Railwaysall set to partially commence some train services from Tuesdayto help those stranded in various places, Kerala governmentplans to put in place airport-model COVID-19 screening atthree railway stations, where the trains will halt.
The stops in Kerala are Kozhikode, Ernakulam andThiruvananthapuram railway stations.
State minister V S Sunil Kumar said symptomaticpassengers will be shifted to hospitals from the stations andothers would be transported to their home districts inspecially arranged Kerala State Road Transport (KSRTC) buses.
"These special trains will have only three stops inKerala--Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram. The Railways will provide us with the full address detailsof the passengers. We will segregate them according to theirrespective districts and finalise the list of people alightingat the three stations.
Those who reach the state will be screened and tested forsymptoms," Sunil Kumar told .
As per central government guidelines, Railways has toensure that all passengers are compulsorilyscreened and onlyasymtomaticpassengers are allowed to board the trains.
Passengers will be provided with hand santisersat entryand exit points at stations and in coaches and all passengerswill have to wear face masks.
On arrival at their destinations here, they will have toadhere to the state's health protocols , he said.
The minister said counters like those at the airports toscreen passengers would be in place at the three stations.
"We will open separate counters like we have done in theairports.
We expect at least 1,400 people in each train and theywill alight at three different stations. The final plan willbe made by Wednesday evening," he said.
The passengers will be subjected to thermal screening atthe railway stations. A passenger having high temperaturewould be segregated and sent to the hospitals for a formalcheck-up, he said.
"Those who are symptomatic will be sent to hospital.Non-symptomatic persons will be allowed to board KSRTC buses,taken to their districts and home quarantined," he added.
Various departments and the local self governmentinstitutions will enquire whether the passenger has facilitiesat their residences to go into home quarantine and if not,they would be shifted to institutional quarantine.
"We will also enquire whether the person has a facilityto stay under home quarantine.
For home quarantine, we will enquire whether the househas a bath-attached room, whether it is possible for theperson to stay alone in the room and if there is anyone abovethe age of 60 years in that house.
If not, we will arrange institutional quarantine. Paidquarantine is also available," Kumar said.
There was no need for any relatives or friends to reachthe station to pick the passengers as the state has arrangedtransportation facility by KSRTC buses,he said.
Kumar said Kerala has been following the Centre'sguidelines, which state that anyone arriving in Kerala fromother states will have to be in strict 14 day quarantine.
There will be local level monitoring committees toensure that those who are under home quarantine do not movearound to visit friends and relatives, he said.
The state has 519 confirmed cases of COVID-19 till nowand currently 27 are under treatment. RRT UD APRRAVINDRANATH APRRAVINDRANATH
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