Published 14:44 IST, January 18th 2020
US to screen people at airports after mystery Coronavirus claims another life
US will begin to screen the passengers arriving from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the heart of SARS linked virus. The virus claimed life of a 69-year-old in China
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US will begin to screen the passengers arriving from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the heart of SARS-like mystery coronavirus. The virus claimed another life, 69-year-old man on Wednesday, taking the death toll to two in China. The virus has also affected countries outside China with Japan reporting one and Thailand reporting two cases.
Screening at three airports
The process of screening involves the incoming passengers to fill out a questionnaire and submit to a temperature check. The people who would show possible signs of infection would be sent to another facility for a diagnostic test that could take almost a day. Martin Cetron, senior officials at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told international media that to further protect the health of Americans during the emergence of Coronavirus, CDC is beginning with a screening at three ports of entry.
The three airports include the New York, JFK, and San Francisco which both receive direct flights from Wuhan as well as Los Angeles which is the biggest destination for connecting flights. He also added that the screening would begin on Friday night before saying that they are expecting the screening over the next couple of weeks which would include as many as 5000 people.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Coronaviruses are transmitted between animals and people. WHO stated that "detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans."
WHO further stated that common signs of the virus include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. Furthermore, in severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure or can even prove to be fatal.
Speaking about the preventions, WHO said that regular hand washing, covering one's mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs, avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing is necessary.
(With inputs from agencies)
14:44 IST, January 18th 2020