At a time when several airports across the world are meticulously screening passengers for coronavirus, flyers arriving in Chennai airport claim the checking mechanism here is far from satisfactory.
Prasanna Sundar, a 30-year-old working in Shanghai, came to Chennai via Colombo a few days back. He says it wasn't until they were waiting in the immigration line that they were called for health check-up. “Many of us had been waiting in the regular immigration line for over ten minutes and only then did an airport official announce that all passengers from China should form a separate queue. Some passengers would have finished their immigration process and left to claim their baggage by then,” he said.
He said, at Colombo airport, passengers were put through thermal screening as soon as they entered the airport after disembarking from their flight and taking a bus. In the Chennai airport as well, the checking should be carried out much earlier or passengers travelling from China must be instructed to proceed to the place where they get checked as soon as they disembark, he added. Thereafter, they proceeded for thermal screening and other procedures, he said.
Another student Anand P., studying in Tianjin Medical University, echoes a similar experience. Anand who left Tianjin had two transits, one at Macau and another at Bangkok before landing in Chennai. “In both airports, we weren’t checked. When we landed here too, the officer at the immigration counter who saw my passport realised I was from China and asked me to go for a health check. The checking procedure was good, but it would have been nice if someone had guided us,” he added. Officials of Airports Authority of India said, they are following the rules laid down by Ministry of Civil Aviation. “The rules say we have to immediately screen passengers directly arriving from an airport in China. We have been screening passengers rigorously and providing all the support they need. There was only one direct flight from Hongkong which has also been cancelled now. We are strictly abiding by the rules of the ministry and checking passengers,” an official said.
Health Department officials said a protocol had been put in place for screening travellers from China. “Blood samples will be drawn for travellers from Wuhan. For those coming from other parts of China, there is thermal and symptomatic screeningTravellers coming from countries where the disease has spread will be asked if they have any symptoms,” a senior official said. If case of symptoms, they would undergo a preliminary screening and would be advised quarantine for 28 days during which they would be monitored on a daily basis. “They are being asked to fill in self-declaration forms through which we note their information. If they do not have any symptoms, we give them certain advisory for the next 30 days,” the official said.
(Names of passengers were changed to protect their identity)
