As advised by the Union Health Ministry, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has directed seven airports Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to make arrangements for screening of passengers arriving from China in the wake of outbreak of an infection caused by a new strain of virus there.
The Union Health Ministry has also sought from the Ministry of External Affairs details of those who have applied for Indian visa since December 31 so that they can be counselled.
Airlines flying in from any airport in China including Hong Kong have been asked to make in-flight announcements requesting passengers with history of fever and cough and travel to Wuhan city in the past 14 days to self-declare at the port of arrival in order to facilitate early isolation, according to an official statement on Tuesday.
This is in continuation to the travel advisory issued by the Union Health Ministry regarding threat of novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province of China asking citizens to follow certain precautionary measures while visiting the country.
The action-plan includes thermal screening of passengers to be undertaken, it said. Thermal cameras will be installed at the pre-immigration area of the seven identified airports and airlines staff will bring the passengers to the health counters before the immigration check.
The coronavirus (CoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed four people in China is a novel strain not seen before.
Also, if an ill passenger or crew member is confirmed as aprobable case of nCoV, public health authorities should be notified about the contacts using the passenger locator form, the statement said.
All travellers who have visited China, particularly through Wuhan during the past 14 days and show symptoms of acute onset of fever, cough, shortness of breath have been asked to report to the airport health unit.