Omicron threat: CIAL reviews situation

The Cochin International Airport (CIAL) authorities have reviewed the situation in the wake of the new guidelines issued by the Union government on COVID-19 variant Omicron. Various agencies involved

The Cochin International Airport (CIAL) authorities have reviewed the situation in the wake of the new guidelines issued by the Union government on COVID-19 variant Omicron. Various agencies involved in the management of the international airport met here on Tuesday to evaluate the situation and assess the preparedness, said a press release here.

The airport has also published a list of ‘at-risk countries’ on the basis of the information from the Union government. Of these countries, the United Kingdom and Singapore have direct flights reaching Kochi. Passengers arriving from these countries and those reaching via other airports from at-risk countries are now being subjected to RT-PCR tests. Random tests are also being conducted on five per cent of the passengers arriving from other countries.

The CIAL facility can test 350 people at a time and results will be issued fast. Those testing negative will have to go into quarantine but those testing positive will be shifted to health centres. Samples will be sent for genome tests to ascertain the variety of the virus. Steps suggested by the Union government will be followed in these cases.