The Hindu : All air passengers to be screened

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 04, 2003

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All air passengers to be screened

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 3. Even as there appeared to be no end to the worldwide outbreak of the killer pneumonia infection, officially called the `Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome' (SARS), the Centre today decided to screen all international air passengers for the disease.

Briefing reporters, an official spokesperson said the decision was taken in the wake of reports that besides affecting an increasing number of people, the disease was also spreading to newer geographical areas.

The disease, which erupted in China first, is reported to have spread to a total of 18 countries. The list of affected countries now includes the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Switzerland and Thailand.

Till now, the screening was confined to passengers coming from Canada, Singapore, China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Emphasising that the Centre was taking every measure to ensure that there was no outbreak of the disease in India, the spokesperson said, "so far, there have been no report and we are trying to ensure that it remains so".

Besides screening of air passengers, the Centre has sent out advisories to all State Governments to gear up their disease surveillance mechanisms and to be ready with contingency plans that could be put into action in case of an outbreak, she added.

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