In the purview of the recent outbreak of pneumonia caused by the Novel Coronavirus in Wuhan city of Hubei province of China, passengers travelling from the latter region will have to undergo a thermal screening at seven Indian airports as a matter of precaution
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Indian airports include – Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Kochi.
Ministry of Civil Aviation Tweeted:
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has activated a health counter and thermal scanners at the pre-immigration area for the arriving passengers. CSMIA currently operates two airlines – Air China and Rwand Air catering to passengers travelling to and from China.
As reported by the Chinese authorities, this is a new type of coronavirus and is different from all other human coronaviruses. The World Health Organisation has reported symptoms such as fever, difficulty in breathing and chest radiographs showing bilateral lung infiltrates as the cause of pneumonia.
In order to prudently reduce the general risk of acute respiratory infections while travelling in or from affected areas such as Wuhan City following things need to be kept in mind:
- Avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections
- Frequent handwashing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment
- Avoid close contact with live or dead farm or wild animals
- Travellers with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing and wash hands)
