Health authorities at Chennai airport are gearing up to install four swine flu thermal detectors for testing arriving passengers.
Airport director Mr E.P. Hareendranathan said the screening would start once they received instructions from the government.
“We are waiting for orders from the Public Health department at Delhi to install the thermal detectors at the airport and start the screening,” said Dr M. Gunasekaran, airport health officer.
However, he noted that four detectors were not enough. “With 13 cases reported in the state so far, we need to cover both international and domestic passengers. So we need more scanners and more manpower,” he added.
Mr Gunasekaran said that the airport health centre would be temporarily equipped with more doctors, nurses and support staff once the Union government notifies them to start the screening. “We will also procure new machines if the government allots funds,” he added.
During the swine flu outbreak a couple of years ago, the four detectors were put to good use at the Chennai airport international terminal. “We had found 164 passengers with Swine Flu symptoms between April 27, 2009 and January 12, 2010. They were sent in separate ambulances to Tondairpet Communicable Diseases Hospital for further tests and treatment,” he added.
While the health authorities did not check domestic passengers last time, Mr Gunasekaran said that recent cases reported in Erode, Tirupur and Coimbatore apart from cities like Pune and Mumbai has necessitated complete screening of arriving passengers.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman V.P. Agrawal said there had been no notification or discussion on screening passengers at the airports across the country. “We have not been given any alert from the home ministry or the health ministry so far,” he said.