Coronavirus Outbreak: Kerala To Open 'Corona Care Homes' Near International Airports

These homes will help to reduce the movement of travellers and help quarantine them. These will have the capacity to accommodate 4,000 - 5,000 people and will be equipped with enough health staff, doctors and lab facility.

"We are entering a critical phase. We need more care and alert. There are some instances that people on home quarantine slipped out and interacted with others. It will foil our planning and preparedness. It is a social responsibility and everyone should go by the directives of health officials," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was quoted by Hindustan Times.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed all district collectors to identify buildings, which can be taken on lease, to set up care homes.

"When more people from infected countries arrive in the state, we have to isolate them for minimum of 14 days to break the chain of viral transmission. It's not advisable to home quarantine them as the chances of risks are higher. The district administrations have already identified buildings and we can open such centres if emergency situation demands," State Health Minister KK Shailaja told India Today.

Kerala has 24 positive cases of the virus. However, no new cases were reported in the last two days. At least 18,011 people are under observation in the state. Of this, 268 are in hospitals and the remaining are in home quarantine.