TRICHY: Several central districts have ramped up their institutional quarantine facilities after the state government indicated its intention to divert some of the Chennai-bound international flights carrying stranded Indians to Trichy from next week. Official sources in Trichy told TOI that the government decided not to land some of these flights at Chennai airport to take the load off crowded quarantine facilities in Chennai.
Though an official order was yet to be issued, the districts have decided to keep their quarantine facilities ready. A senior official in Trichy said around 5,000 beds in hostels of educational institutions across the district were available to accommodate the passengers. In Karur, an official said they had hostel facility ready in a college to accommodate about 600 passengers. Altogether, about 15,000 passengers could be lodged in institutional quarantine in Trichy, Karur, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Ariyalur and Perambalur districts.
Meanwhile, all 178 quarantined Malaysia returnees in Trichy have been sent home after they tested negative for Covid-19 on Friday.
