Not ready to take any chance in the wake of the spiraling cases of coronavirus across the countries, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked airports and airlines on Friday that passengers arriving in flights from Japan and South Korea must be screened once they step out of aerobridges in order to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus infection.
Till date, only passengers arriving from four countries -- China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore - were being screened for possible
exposure to the respiratory virus at 21 identified airports in India.
The Indian Embassy in Japan said on Friday that a third Indian crew on board a cruise ship off the Japanese coast has tested positive for the novel coronavirus as authorities confirmed that total 218 people have been infected with the deadly virus on the quarantined ship.
Two crew members, out of total 138 Indians on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess, were tested positive for the virus earlier.
In a circular, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated, "Universal screening of all the passengers coming in flights directly from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore besides the flights from China and Hong Kong shall be ensured immediately once they step out of the specific identified aerobridge."
"It is advised to place the suitable signages at strategic locations at all the airports and getting the self-declaration form filled by the passengers as per the instructions of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," it added.
Meanwhile, SpiceJet on Friday joined other airlines like Air India and IndiGo in announcing temporarily suspending Delhi-Hong Kong flights from February 16 to 29 in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed nearly 1,500 people in China.
IndiGo and Air India had a few days ago had already suspended all their flights between India and China. Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry said that the conronavirus situation is under control in the country.
"SpiceJet has decided to temporarily suspend its daily Delhi-Hong Kong passenger flight from February 16th to 29th, 2020," said the spokesman of the airline.
On its part, the Union Health Ministry issued a statement that the novel coronavirus situation in the country was under control. Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan chaired a video-conference meeting with health secretaries from states and Union territories and senior officials from Ministries of Shipping, External Affairs, Civil Aviation and Tourism, according to the official statement.
She said various precautionary measures have been undertaken in close coordination with the ministries concerned at the central level.
"The situation is under control in the country and is being regularly monitored by the Prime Minister's Office, Union Health Minister and Cabinet Secretary.... In addition, a Group of Ministers is also reviewing the status," she said.
So far, India has reported three confirmed cases of nCoV, all from Kerala. Three medical students of the Wuhan University, all natives of Kerala, who returned to India on their own recently and self-reported at a hospital in the state tested positive for the respiratory virus, named COVID-19. One of them has been discharged after recovery.
