With the recent outbreak of coronavirus in kerala, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has decided to expand universal screening to domestic arrival passengers too. The screening had started in the international terminal on March 3. CIAL has also introduced new health counters to help the international and domestic passengers with queries and issues related to coronavirus.
The process of thermal screening is used in all airports of India, where it detects the amount of radiation, as the emission of radiation increases with temperature. Earlier, screening was only done for the passengers from 12 vulnerable countries, but since March 4, all passengers had to undergo screening. The thermal sensors have been installed at 21 airports in the country.
A three member family from Italy, who had arrived in Kerala on February 29 and two of their relatives, had tested positive for Coronavirus. Since there wasn’t universal screening in Kochi airport at that time, and they did not inform their travel history to health officials after arrival, they got into contact with a few others. Apart from the positive cases, five people who were in direct contact with the affected are in quarantine.
Even if the screening is active in airports, it is hard to diagnose symptoms in the incubation period. One of the coronavirus affected family members who returned from Italy by Qatar airways via Doha told TNM that they had no symptoms while travelling or when they reached Kerala. Officials from Qatar airways had informed that they had installed screening centers in Doha. Still, the family was not diagnosed at the airport in February.
A three-year-old child of a family who traveled to Kochi from Italy via Dubai has also tested positive for coronavirus. It was during the universal screening at Kochi airport the child was diagnosed with a fever and was admitted to Ernakulam Medical College and the samples turned positive on Monday. The child's parents are also in isolation and their samples are sent for testing.
Six patients are confirmed with the virus and under treatment in Kerala.