There have been over 200 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (nCoV), including three deaths, with all of them imported from Central China’s Wuhan city.
All major international airports in India have issued an alert novel coronavirus, with passengers arriving from China, including Hong Kong, to be screened on arrival.
There have been over 200 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), including three deaths, with all of them imported from Central China’s Wuhan city.
In an alert issued on Tuesday, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has directed for all logistics support and arrangements to be made immediately with regard to screening of passengers arriving in India from China including Hong Kong at the airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin
The decision has been taken after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued an advisory regarding nCoV.
For health screening at airports, provision of space at the pre-immigration area with logistics to install the thermal cameras will be made at these airports. Airlines staff have been asked to bring the passengers to the health counters before the immigration check.
The MoCA has called for immediate implementation of the action plan and strict adherence by identified airports and all concerned airlines.
The Ministry of Health had written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to facilitate thermal screening at these seven international airports. It had also asked the airlines to follow the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on flights originating from China and disembarking in India.
MoCA has also instructed for in-flight announcements for India bound flights.
"In order to facilitate early isolation, in-flight announcements to be made by the airlines (which are directly coming from any airport in China including Hong Kong) requesting passengers with history of fever and cough and history of travel to Wuhan City in last 14 days to self-declare at port of arrival or to State Health Authorities," the Civil Aviation Ministry said.
Besides, airlines staff have been asked to guide the passengers in filling up the self-reporting forms before disembarkation and display of airport signage
Operational procedures recommended by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with regard to managing the suspected communicable disease on board an aircraft have to be followed.
"All passengers and crew who are otherwise healthy should be allowed to continue their onward journey. If the ill passenger or crew member is confirmed as a probable case of Wuhan nCoV, public health authorities should be notified about the contacts using the Passenger Locator Form," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that UN agency's Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will hold an emergency committee on the spread of the virus on Wednesday.
"The Emergency Committee on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) will ascertain whether the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, and what recommendations should be made to manage it," WHO said.
Four countries have reported to the WHO confirmed cases with most for China (198 cases, including three deaths, 2 cases in Beijing and 1 case in Guandong), one case each in Japan and South Korea and two case in Thailand with all of them imported from Wuhan.
A strain of coronavirus labelled as 2019-nCoV, it has led to an outbreak of viral pneumonia in China.
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