Kuwait expats relieved after state govt cancels mandatory rapid antibody test

Mangaluru: The Karnataka government has reportedly withdrawn the mandatory rapid antibody test for people flying home from abroad in chartered flights from some countries, after a backlash from airlines and expatriates. The expatriates had told the government that this test, which was made compulsory from July 1, was not feasible to perform in some foreign airports.
According to sources from the state government, the rule was withdrawn on Friday, after the intervention of political representatives.Sources also added that the test is exempted only for a few countries, where such facilities are not available.
Former MLC Captain Ganesh Karnik and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje had taken up the matter related to a chartered repatriation flight from Kuwait, which was about to get cancelled for the second time, with the state government. “We had explained to the bureaucrats about the difficulty of conducting the test, after which the same was withdrawn from Friday for Kuwait,” said Karnik. Earlier, the same rule had been implemented by Kerala, and quickly withdrawn, after learning that it was not practical.
A bureaucrat said that rapid antibody test will be exempted based on each case and country. Currently some of the Gulf countries are exempted from the same.
An expatriate from Kuwait, explaining why antibody tests are not practical, said that the test is available, but it is conducted only by the state-owned airlines such as Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways, and all others flights have to do the test by themselves. “Chartered flight operators say that they don’t have the facilities to conduct such tests. As a result, hiring chartered flights in the absence of Vande Bharat Mission flights to Karnataka was another setback for expatriates to return home. However, we are relieved now with the government withdrawing the same,” said an expatriate.
Mohandas M Kamath, an expatriate from Kuwait, said that with the withdrawal of mandatory antibody test, the chartered flights which were cancelled at the last minute on Saturday last week, will finally take off this Saturday.