NRIs left to wait on bus for hours in Kozhikode due to lack of govt quarantine

Keralites who had flown in from Kuwait on Thursday were stuck inside a bus for four hours, as the Kozhikode district administration reportedly refused to allot quarantine centres initially.
Woman stuck in bus after landing in airport
Woman stuck in bus after landing in airport
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Keralites flying in from foreign countries to Kozhikode have been made to wait for long hours before being allotted government quarantine facilities. 

A bus full of international passengers on Thursday waited for four hours on the road to get quarantine centres allotted by the government in Kozhikode city.

This is reportedly the third consecutive day of these foreign returnees being stranded, after landing in Kozhikode

“We landed at the Karipur International Airport at 1 am. We are all coming from Kuwait on the same flight. On exiting the airport they made us board the bus promising to give us quarantine facilities arranged by the government. On reaching the quarantine centre, we have been made to wait inside the bus as district officials now say that there aren’t enough centres to allot to people. We are suddenly asked to go and home quarantine,” a woman stuck inside the bus told a Malayalam TV channel. 

Thursday’s bus had three women. All the passengers were reportedly made to wait with no food, water or restroom facilities arranged for them in the interim. 

“I cannot go home as I live in an apartment in the Medical College area. The owner of the flat made it clear that I need to seek institutional quarantine, as there are many residents living close to our apartment. I had informed this to the local health inspector before boarding my flight from Kuwait and the health inspector had promised a government allotted quarantine centre. However, on reaching here, the district divisional magistrate came to our bus and informed us that we will have to home quarantine,” the woman passenger added. 

According to the bus driver, he had received instructions to drop off Kozhikode residents at the quarantine centre and then drive to Kannur and later Kasaragod to drop passengers from the districts in their respective quarantine centres. However, the entire journey was delayed due to passengers being made to wait in Kozhikode. 

According to reports, district collector S Sambasiva Rao has also ordered for a few government quarantine centres to be closed in Kozhikode as several NRI Keralites are opting for home quarantine after flying into the state. 

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