The Kerala High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Centre and State governments to a writ petition alleging that unauthorised COVID-19 test was being carried out at Calicut airport by a lab that does not have the approval of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Justice N. Nagaresh issued notice to the State government, ICMR and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Ministries of Health and Civil Aviation on the petition moved by an NRI.
The petitioner, who works as a driver in a private company at Abu Dhabi, said that he had undergone an RT-PCR on January 25, two days prior to his scheduled departure on January 27, and tested negative for COVID-19.
However, when he arrived at the Calicut airport on January 27, he was compelled to undergo an RT-PCR test at a cost of ₹2,490 and he tested positive for COVID-19.
As a result, he could not travel to Abu Dhabi to rejoin his duty. He later found that the lab was not listed in the list of institutions approved by ICMR.