Migrants returning from red zone to be tested for COVID-19 in HP

People seeking to enter Himachal Pradesh from red zone localities in other regions in the country will be tested for coronavirus, while all migrants returning to the hill state will be kept in institutional quarantine, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Sunday.

Thakur said two special trains from Bengaluru and Goa will bring back stranded Himachalis to Una on Monday and Wednesday.

"Proper arrangements would be made at Una railway station for ensuring proper social distancing at their arrival. Arrangements of masks, sanitisers and food packets will be made at separate district-wise counters," he said at a meeting with state officials.

The state government has urged the Union government to run special trains from Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar and other regions to facilitate return of Himachalis stranded there.

The chief minister said priority will be given to bring back students as they are the most vulnerable group.

He said 52,763 people of the state stranded in different parts of the country have registered to return to Himachal Pradesh in their own vehicles. About 63,044 people want to leave the state for their native places and 30,219 have already left HP, he added.

The chief minister said workers should be persuaded to stay back as their exit may hamper developmental projects in the state.