Passengers from Singapore, Thailand also being screened for coronavirus

Air passengers arriving in Mumbai from Singapore and Thailand are also being screened now, besides China, for the coronavirus infection, a Maharashtra government official said on Monday.

The state government has also decided to provide a team of 25 health officials to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to assist its personnel in screening passengers arriving at the Mumbai international airport from Monday.

"Passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong are being screened since January 18. From Saturday, we have also added two more locations - Singapore and Thailand - to be watched out for the coronavirus infection," the official said.

So far, AAI's health officials have been carrying out screening of passengers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here for the coronavirus infection.

As more number of passengers arriving from various countries  now need to be screened, more staff is required for the speedy scanning, the official said.

"The AAI also requested the state government to provide more staff for screening passengers. The government has issued an order and health officials from neighbouring Thane district will be deployed at the Mumbai international airport for the screening purpose, starting today," she said.

Till Sunday, a total of 6,432 people were screened at the Mumbai international airport after arrival from China.

So far, no confirmed case of coronavirus infection has been found in the state, an official earlier said.

The outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus was first reported in Hubei province of China and has since spread to several countries, including two positive cases in India, both in the southern state of Kerala.

The central government on Sunday issued a new travel advisory asking people to refrain from travelling to China in view of coronavirus outbreak in its Hubei province, and said travellers on return from the neighbouring country could be quarantined.

In its advisory, the Health Ministry also said anyone with travel history of China since January 15 could be quarantined.

The decision of issuing a new travel advisory was taken at a high-level review meeting held by the Cabinet Secretary on the preparedness to deal with the novel coronavirus which has now spread to 25 countries.