The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has made all necessary arrangements at the Chennai airport for the health screening of passengers arriving from China in the wake of an outbreak of infection caused by a newly identified strain of coronavirus.

The airport has been provided with logistics support with regards to the screening of passengers as per the instructions by Airport Health Organisation (APHO). The mysterious outbreak of novel coronavirus was first reported earlier this month in Wuhan, a Chinese city of an estimated 11 million people. Since then, there have been hundreds of confirmed cases and 18 deaths. Cases have been reported in several Asian cities other than China, including South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had directed seven airports across the country - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Cochin - to make arrangements for the screening of passengers arriving from China.

Airlines flying in from any airport in China, including Hong Kong, have been asked to make in-flight announcements requesting passengers with a 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 the advisory.

Courtesy ANI