Reportedly in view of the alerts issued by global health authorities following the confirmation of 9 deaths due to a Coronavirus outbreak, officials at the Cochin international airport (CIAL) in kerala have begun screening of passengers from china and Hong Kong. Meanwhile there are no direct flights to china or hong kong from CIAL, officials will be screening passengers arriving on flights from malaysia and singapore as well.
ACK Nair, director of CIAL following a detailed meeting on tuesday stated "Intimations have gone to airline cabin crew that they should find out if any of their passengers are coming from china and Hong Kong. If any such passengers are there they should be told to first report to the health desk in the airport. Only after they are cleared by a medical team should such passengers be allowed to proceed towards immigration," regarding the decision to screen all passengers visiting from china or Hong Kong.
Moreover the new Corona virus was first identified in wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province. Apparently nine people have succumbed to the virus so far and another 400 remain under the close watch of medical personnel. Reportedly Coronavirus can infect both animals and humans and this virus may cause symptoms of a mild respiratory tract infection and manifest as a runny nose, cough, cold, sore throat, headache, fever and other symptoms of the common cold. Individuals who are prone to a more severe form of the infection are those with weakened immune systems, young children and the elderly. Previously airports in tamilnadu had also announced that screening would be mandated for all passengers arriving from china and Hong Kong.
