I&PRF Bulletin
Thiruvananthapuram, April 30: While welcoming the decision of the Central Government to allow the movement of inter-state migrant labourers to go home, Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today reiterated the demand of the State Government to run special non-stop trains to transport them. He also termed the Central Government’s order to transport them by buses as impractical for transporting the migrant workers in Kerala.
Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said, “There are 3.6 lakh migrant workers staying in 20,826 camps spread across Kerala and most of them (about 99%) want to go back to their native places. A large percentage of the guest labourers in Kerala are from West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It would not be practical or feasible to transport such a large number of people over such long distances cutting across several states by bus. It would involve massive logistics problems besides the high risk of spread of the disease and hardship to the people. Therefore, we request the Central Government to ask the Railways to run special non-stop trains to transport these migrant labourers to their native States. I had earlier written to the Prime Minister to allow movement of migrant labourers by non-stop trains.”
The Chief Minister also informed that Chief Secretary, Shri Tom Jose IAS has written to the Union Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla IAS in this regard.
Transporting these migrant labourers by train back home with proper social distancing practices would also ensure that they get medical attention and adequate water and food which can be provided by the railways.
The CM also added that the migrant labourers should realise that it would not be possible for all of them to go back in one shot. They need to be prioritised. The police and other voluntary organisations should be involved to manage such large scale movement of people across multiple states.
Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; Revenue Minister, Shri E Chandrasekharan, and Chief Secretary, were also present during the daily media briefing.
*Kerala Covid-19 Tracker*
*14 recoveries & Two new cases today, total 111 patients under treatment*
Thiruvananthapuram, April 30: Kerala today reported two new cases of Coronavirus infection, one each from Malappuram and Kasargod districts. One of them has come to the State from Maharashtra and the other has got infected through local contact.
At the same time, 14 patients under treatment for Covid-19 have tested negative in the State today. Four patients from Palakkad district, three in Kollam district, two each from Kannur and Kasargod districts, one each in Pathanamthitta, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts are those who were cured of the disease.
This was announced by Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan during his daily briefing about the Covid-19 situation in the State.
Till now, 497 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Kerala and 111 patients are under treatment in the State.
20,711 persons are under surveillance in various districts across the State. Out of these, 20,285 persons are under observation at their homes and 426 are quarantined in hospitals. 95 people were hospitalised today. Till date, 25,973 samples have been sent for testing and 25,135 samples have tested negative with no infection. 1,508 samples from people in the high-risk group were collected separately and tested, and so far, 897 samples have tested negative.
Currently, there are 47 patients under treatment for Covid-19 in Kannur district, followed by 18 in Kottayam district, 14 in Idukki district, 12 in Kollam district and nine in Kasargod district.
One municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district, two panchayats in Kollam district and one in Kottayam district have been declared as hotspots today. There are a total of 70 hotspots in the State now.
Meanwhile, the usage of masks in public places has been made compulsory in Kerala from today. A fine of Rs.200 would be imposed by the Police for the first time and Rs.5,000 for repeated offences apart from registering a case. Today, 954 cases were registered across the State for not masks.
