There was no leniency in screening for foreign travellers, 'prosperous Indians', says Centre

India has been “proactive and preemptive, and graded” in its response to the COVID-19 crisis, the government said on Saturday. Amid criticism that the three-week lockdown announced on March 24 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was without prior planning, the Centre released a timeline of its actions since the breakout of the global pandemic. As lakhs of migrant labourers remain stranded without food and supplies in several parts of the country due to the lockdown, the government countered criticism that its response system was lenient towards foreign travellers. “…the statement that 'prosperous Indians' were allowed to return without screening, is preposterous. The government took swift action to put in a place a comprehensive and robust system of screening, quarantine and surveillance are part of its robust response to the public health crisis right from the beginning. This covered every traveller, Indians returning after business, or tourism, students as well as foreigners,” the release by the Press Information Bureau said. It said India acted much before WHO declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, to put in place a “comprehensive response system” at its borders. “Screening of incoming air passengers followed by suspension of visas and and ban on international flights was much ahead of any other country,” the government said, pointing out that Italy and Spain, which are devastated by COVID-19, started screening of travellers after 25 days and 39 days respectively of first reported case. “Though the first case of coronavirus was detected in India on 30th Jan., we had started thermal screening of incoming international passengers coming from China and Hong Kongs on 18th Jan itself,” said the release. Screening of passengers at 30 airports, 12 major and 65 minor ports and at land borders covered over 36 lakh passengers, the Centre said. It had also started intensive coordination with the States. “A meticulous system has enabled States to track down individuals who tried to avoid surveillance or who did not not follow quarantine,” the government said, adding that 20 video conferences by Union Health Secretary with State Governments and six by the Cabinet Secretary with the State Chief Secretaries have been held to review the preparedness.