The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday said that it would not hesitate from filing criminal cases against foreign returnees who did not adhere to the guidelines for home isolation for a period of 14 days, after their entry into the state.
The state government made the announcement amidst strict monitoring and surveillance that is being conducted to check the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Andhra.
According to reports, the government said that it will book cases under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This will make it difficult for people, both Indians and foreigners, to renew their passports and visas for future foreign trips.
In a related development, Krishna District Collector A Imtiaz, said that foreign returnees who did not cooperate would also be placed under house arrest, even if they were asymptomatic, until the 14-day isolation period that was mandated.
A total of 580 people, who returned to Andhra Pradesh from various foreign countries in recent days, have been kept under home isolation in the state and another 22 under hospital observation, the Medical and Health Department said in Amaravati on Tuesday.
In a bulletin, the department said that no positive cases of novel coronavirus have been reported in the state after the one patient in Nellore on March 12.
In all, 852 people have been identified over the last few days for observation, of which 250 have completed the 28-day observation period. Of the 100 blood samples tested, 90 turned negative and one was positive. The result of the remaining nine cases is awaited, the bulletin said.
The state government has been enforcing Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, to check the spread of coronavirus.
Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney constituted an eight-member inter-department coordination committee, with Special Chief Secretary (Health) as the member-convenor, and special chief secretaries or principal secretaries of various departments as members for taking up concerted measures to contain COVID-19.