Coronavirus: travelers from Iran, Italy too will be screened

 Passengers arriving at the Mumbai International Airport from Iran and Italy will also be screened for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infection, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday.

Passengers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia are already undergoing screening at the airport.

Iran and Italy were added to the list on Wednesday on the instructions of the Union government, Tope said.

"Travelers from two more countries, Iran and Italy, will be screened at the airport apart from those from ten other countries," the minister said.

A total of 53,981 travelers who arrived here by 441 flights have been screened at the Mumbai airport so far since the outbreak of the coronavirus was reported in China''s Wuhan city.

As many as 91 travelers were admitted to isolation facilities in the state for suspected Covid-19 infection, but none of them tested positive, Tope said.

Eighty-eight of these travelers were discharged while three are under observation at hospitals in Pune and Mumbai.

According to the state health department, until now 304 people have arrived in the state from the Covid-19- affected areas (apart from those who were quarantined).

The authorities allowed them to leave the airport as they did not show any symptoms of the infection, but followed up their health status for a fourteen-day period.

As many as 225 persons have already completed this follow-up period and did not show any symptoms of the disease.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has asked people to avoid non-essential travel to the Republic of Korea, Iran and Italy after these countries reported a spike in coronavirus cases

(Pic Credit: AP)