All the 85 Indian nationals, who arrived here on Tuesday from the Ebola-hit liberia and Nigeria, were screened, found healthy and cleared of any symptoms of the deadly disease by the doctors of the Airport Health Organisation (APHO).
Of the 85 Indians, who arrived here in three batches during the day, 66 landed from liberia, while 19 others returned from Nigeria. Simultaneously, 13 Indian nationals landed in New Delhi directly from liberia.
According to a Mumbai International Airport limited (MIAl) spokesperson, 20 Indian passengers arrived on board flight no SA 284 from liberia via Johannesburg, were cleared by the APHO team after screening under supervision of Deputy Director General (IH), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India as none of them were having any symptoms or history of contact with Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) case.
“Follow-me vehicle was made available by Apron Control at Gate 5 to escort the Government ambulance from Gate no.5 to bus boarding gate. One MIAl ambulance along with 1 doctor and 1 paramedic was kept on standby on air-side. One more MIAl ambulance was kept on standby at cargo. As a precautionary measure after disembarkation of all the passengers, complete flight was disinfected by the APHO team,” the MIAl spokesperson said.
The second batch of Indians evacuated from liberia arrived by ET 610 at 0541 hours. In this batch, a total of 46 Indians passengers evacuated from liberia arrived and were cleared by the APHO team after screening under supervision of senior health officials, as none of them were having any symptoms or history of contact with EVD case.
In addition to these, 19 passengers who had come from Nigeria were also screened by APHO team for EVD. Meanwhile, a statement put out by Union Health Ministry stated: “As many as 112 Indian nationals and four Nepalese Nationals working with M/s Afcons in liberia are being brought back by International SOS (ISOS) Organisation on the request of M/s Afcons.”
Of the Indians who have either already returned or in the process of being brought back, a maximum of 54 persons belong to Maharashtra. The break-up of evacuated people from other States is: Delhi (4), West Bengal (12), Bihar (10), Uttar Pradesh (7), Tamil Nadu (5), Andhra Pradesh (4), Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat (3 each), Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab (2 each), Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh (all one each).
“No case of Ebola Virus Disease has been detected in India. It is reiterated that it is not an airborne infection (not spread through the air you breathe). A person has to come in very close contact with the blood and body fluids of an Ebola Patient to acquire this infection,” the MOHFW statement said.
According to MOHFW, senior officers of the Ministry have been pre-positioned at Mumbai and Delhi Airport to monitor the screening of these passengers from liberia. “66 passengers have already landed in Mumbai and 13 in Delhi. They have all been screened and found healthy. No passenger has been isolated. Rest are expected to reach late in the evening,” the statement added.