Mumbai airport gets thermal sensors to screen flu patients

New Delhi: With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring swine flu a pandemic, health authorities stepped up protective measures in the country even as a six-year-old girl who arrived from the US to Hyderabad via Mumbai tested positive for the virus on Friday, taking the total number of cases in India to 16.
The Mumbai airport, meanwhile, became the first in the country to get a thermal camera on Friday. The health ministry has decided to install four thermal scanners at the Delhi airport too. If effective, other airports will be similarly equipped.
On detecting a person with body temperature above normal (98.6 degree F), the camera sounds an alarm and also captures his or her photograph. A spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Limited said a second camera was expected to arrive next week.
"These scanners are very sensitive to body temperatures and, in case the doctors miss out on any passengers with fever, the machines won't miss them," said Vineet Chawdhary, joint secretary, Union ministry of health and family welfare.
The health ministry has asked the ministry of external affairs to deny visas to infected people. All airlines operating in the Indian territory, too, have been asked to check the health status of passengers before allowing them to board planes.
Officials said there was no need to panic as the infection was still at level 4 in India. "There are no reports of cluster formation of the virus anywhere in the country yet. Out of 16 positive cases, five have been treated successfully. The rest are under treatment.
13/06/09 Vineeta Pandey/Daily News & Analysis

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Jun 2009