Kochi: Expressing concern over rising COVID-19 cases in Lakshadweep islands, Lakshadweep MP P P Mohammed Faizal on Tuesday said he would request the Centre to bring back the earlier restriction of seven-day quarantine at Kochi for those who travel to the islands from the mainland.
"My demand is that the administration should have a relook into the revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which does away with the mandatory quarantine guidelines for those arriving at the islands from Kochi.
The older version of the strict quarantine at Kochi needs to be reimposed till the completion of vaccination drive against the virus in the islands," Faizal told PTI.
The Lok Sabha MP said the islanders, cutting across political lines, are protesting the implementation of the revised SOP by the island administration.
"I will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah seeking their intervention in the matter," Faizal said.
Lakshadweep had staved off the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak earlier last year, reporting zero cases as of Monday (January 18).
He said the only reason for the COVID-19 cases in the islands is due to implementation of the new SOP which came into force from December 28, 2020.
As per the revised SOP, anyone can now visit the islands from the mainland with a negative test report of RT-PCR obtained 48 hours before the travel, Faizal said.
The number of COVID-19 cases soared to 14 in Lakshadweep islands which remained insulated from the attack of the deadly virus till Monday, since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country nearly a year ago.
A day after the first coronavirus case was reported in the islands, official sources said 13 people, who were his primary contacts, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, taking the test positivity rate to 42.4 per cent.
