THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State government on Thursday said that persons seeking to enter Kerala from red zone localities in other states would have to go into quarantine for a mandatory period of 14 days.

They would have to pay for their food and board. Those who attempted to evade quarantine would face prosecution under the provisions of the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020.

The government had earlier insisted that returnees from other states in the country, including red zones, need to quarantined in government facility only for seven days. But this had to be made 14 days as the COVID-19 presence was still there in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Kerala would allow entry for people from other States only if it had space to quarantine them. The government has made arrangements to quarantine people in their home district itself.

So far, the government has allowed 6,000 of them into the Kerala and has shifted them to hostels and lodges monitored by the State. Health workers would test them for COVID-19, and they would shift infected persons to hospitals.

The government has issued passes to more than 38,000 applicants. It has staggered their date and time for entry to prevent crowding of people and vehicles in border localities.

Meanwhile, the government has stopped issuing digital pass to those who are preparing to return to Kerala from other states including red zones.

It has been decided to resume issuance of the pass only after quarantining people who have reached here from other states and collecting their details.