Coronavirus: Top Govt Official Raises Red Flag Over Monitoring Of 15 Lakh International Arrivals

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has told state governments that more than 15 lakh international travellers came to India over the last two months but there appears to be a gap between the actual monitoring for COVID-19 and the total arrivals. In a letter to chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, Gauba said such a gap in monitoring of international passengers may seriously jeopardise the efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, given that many amongst the persons who have tested positive for the virus so far in India have a history of international travel. 

Meanwhile, nearly 1,200 people in Jammu and Kashmir, who hid their travel history to coronavirus-affected countries, have been identified and sent to quarantine facilities in the Union territory , a top official said on Friday. A batch of 300 police recruits has also been sent to a quarantine centre in Kathua after successfully completing the training process, J-K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said. "Nearly 1,200 people who have travel history to affected countries have been identified at different places in J&K. They have been lifted from wherever they were and brought to quarantine. They have been put in official quarantine facilities," the DGP said.

The police and administration have launched a massive operation to track, trace and take these people to quarantine, he said. "We have launched a massive operation to trace and shift people with travel history to the affected countries to quarantine. We have setup control rooms and appealed to people to give information about those people," he said. Singh said over 400 calls have been received about people who hid their travel history and escaped screening for coronavirus. A spacious quarantine centre has been setup in Kathua to send all travellers entering Jammu and Kashmir via Lakhanpur to quarantine. In the wake of lockdown, the police has reached to the people with ration and medicines, the DGP said.