VIJAYAWADA: /VISAKHAPATNAM: At the Visakhapatnam airport have set up a screening camp and are conducting preliminary medical tests on passengers flying in from China, following the coronavirus outbreak there. So far, no cases of the infection have been detected in the city, and in the last 15 days, no passengers have flown in from the affected Wuhan province.
Airport director M Raja Kishore told TNIE that the screening is being conducted as per an advisory from the Union health ministry. An awareness campaign is also being held to inform people headed to and arriving from China, about the preventive measures to be taken, he added. Most passengers from China reach the city via Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
The airport has set up facilities to conduct preliminary tests, Kishore said, adding that international passengers with symptoms of acute onset of fever, cough and shortness of breath are being screened. In addition, officials have told people who arrived from China in the last two weeks to visit a hospital within 28 days of arrival, report to the State and district health authorities, and contact the health officer of the airport concerned if they develop a fever, cough a n d breathlessness. M e a n - whi le, the health ministry’s guidel i n e s o n screening for coronavirus are not applicable to the Vij ay aw a d a airport as it does not receive international passengers, said Vijayawada airport director G Madhusudan. People who reach Vijayawada from abroad would already have been screened at the international airports from which they reached the city, he pointed out. But just to be safe, medical emergency units at the airport were instructed to make arrangements for any SOS.
“Though we do not have a screening mechanism, we have displayed the dos and don’ts in the airport lounge, in case passengers suspect themselves of having symptoms associated with coronavirus. They will be taken to m e d i c a l emergency units and district health and medical officials will be alerted,” he said. Air Asia operates services from Kuala Lumpur to Vizag on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Meanwhile, Scoot operates flights from Singapore to Vizag on Tuesdays, Wednsdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Air India operates a daily flight from Dubai to Vizag via Hyderabad. Though Scoot and Air Asia have the capacity to ferry 2,000 passengers each week, there are only about 100 passengers from China. Most Indians visit Shanghai and Beijing provinces, apart from Guanghou, according to Vijaya Mohan of the Tours and Travels Association of AP. Guanghou is the largest manufacturing hub and large exhibitions are held there, which is why most Indians go there, he explained.