Stepping up its vigil to isolate the deadly coronavirus, the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry has called for the immediate implementation of the action plan that includes screening passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong at major airports across the country.
The government has organized all logistics support and made arrangements to screen passengers at cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata airports.
“In order to facilitate early isolation, in-flight announcements are to be made by the airlines requesting that passengers with a history of fever and cough, or a history of travel to Wuhan City in the last 14 days should self-declare at their port of arrival, or to State Health Authorities,” the action plan issued to airlines and airports reads.
All the passengers will also fill out self-reporting forms before disembarkation so that the filled blanks can be checked by health staff on arrival. The ministry also directed airline staff to bring passengers to the Health counters before allowing them to go through immigration checks.
Necessary arrangements made at Delhi ,Chennai,Bengaluru and Kolkata airports in line with the directives issued by MoCA. Similar arrangements have been made at all 7 identified airports. MoCA is in constant touch with all the airports to ensure all SOPs are being followed. pic.twitter.com/xKBXOKQo9P
— Ministry of Civil Aviation (@MoCA_GoI) January 21, 2020
The ministry has made it apparent that during screening if an ill passenger or crew member is confirmed as a probable case of Wuhan Coronavirus, “public health authorities should be notified about their contacts using the Passenger Locator Form”.
