Screen outbound passengers at US airports: Govt

New Delhi: In a bid to prevent further import of novel influenza A-H1N1 virus into the country, the government today insisted that there should be some form of exit screening of people boarding flights at airports in the Swine flu-affected regions to prevent the ever-increasing global spread of the pandemic even as the number of positive cases in India climbed to 31. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 76 countries have officially reported 35,928 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection with 163 deaths.
Soon after another case was reported from Andhra Pradesh, the minister of state for health, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, said: “The government is ready to handle the situation and there is no need to panic but as the USA is main source (of Swine Flu) as far as India is concerned… Americans too, like in Mexico, should provide some kind of screening at the point of departure.” “Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has already requested the ministry of external affairs to prevail upon swine-flu affected countries to start screening of passengers bound for India to cut down spread of the contagion,” Mr Trivedi said. So far, 315 people have been tested for the infection, of whom 31 tested positive. Eleven people who contracted the flu have been discharged after treatment, according to a health ministry statement. Of the 31 cases, 13 were reported from Hyderabad, eight in Jalandhar, five in Delhi, two each in Mumbai and Coimbatore and one in Goa. Except two people who contracted the virus through human-to-human infection, all the others brought the virus to Indian shores from swine flu-hit regions in either USA or Mexico.
16/06/09 The Statesman

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Categories: Airports Jun 2009, Foreign Jun 2009