World fights coronavirus outbreak

Countries are checking the body temperatures of arriving airline passengers and adopting precautionary quarantine procedures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

A pharmacy worker sells face masks in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday. Picture: AP

Countries in Asia and elsewhere are checking the body temperatures of arriving airline passengers and adopting precautionary quarantine procedures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

MAINLAND CHINA

China’s communist government was blamed for making the SARS outbreak in 2003 far worse by ­initially hiding information and blocking the work of the World Health ­Organisation. This time, leader Xi Jinping has called for tough measures and said “party committees, governments and relevant departments at all levels should put people’s lives and health first”. At the airport in Wuhan, the temperatures of ­departing passengers are checked and outbound tour groups are banned from leaving the city. Everyone in a public role, from traffic police officers to bank tellers, is wearing a protective face mask.

AUSTRALIA

Biosecurity staff and state health officials in NSW are meeting flights from Wuhan and distributing pamphlets printed in English and Chinese to all passengers. Health officials said a man who had travelled to Wuhan was placed in isolation in Brisbane after developing a respiratory illness but had recovered.

JAPAN

One case of virus has been detected. Visitors arriving from Wuhan are required to fill in health forms. Japan confirmed last week that a man in his 30s tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from the Chinese city. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has tracked down and is monitoring 41 people who had contact with the patient. The ministry says none of them has developed symptoms of the virus.

HONG KONG

Along with stepped-up surveillance, additional cleaning and disinfection measures have been ordered for planes and trains from Wuhan as well as for train stations and the airport. Authorities are ready for a worst-case scenario and are on extremely high alert. A lack of information and low levels of vigilance were blamed for Hong Kong becoming the second-­hardest hit area by SARS after mainland China in the 2000s. As in much of mainland China, Hong Kong residents favour traditional markets where live poultry and other animals are sold. The government health department has advised people against visiting such markets or touching animals or their droppings.

NIGERIA

Travellers from Wuhan need to report to a medical centre if they feel ill. China is Africa’s top trading partner. There were more than 200,000 Chinese workers in ­Africa as of the end of 2017, not ­including many informal migrants such as traders and shopkeepers.

UNITED STATES

Health screenings for the virus are at three airports: New York’s Kennedy airport, and in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Airports in ­Chicago and Atlanta were expected to get similar screenings later this week. The US, which reported its first case of the virus on Tuesday, will also route all Wuhan- originating passengers to those five airports. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it developed a test to detect the new virus and plans to share the tool with domestic and international partners.

SOUTH KOREA

At Incheon airport near Seoul, the only airport in South Korea with direct flights from Wuhan, authorities are operating two special gates for passengers from the city. Officials use ear thermometers to check passengers’ temperatures. Since January 2, airport staff have also been spraying disinfectant at arrival halls twice a week. Handrails of moving walkways and escalators, lift buttons and doors, drinking fountains and other sensitive areas are also wiped with disinfectant twice a day.

INDIA

Has expanded thermal screening of passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong to seven airports from the current three. In-flight announcements before arrival direct passengers with a fever or cough who have travelled to Wuhan in the previous 14 days to declare themselves to health authorities. Thermal screening will begin in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and ­Cochin, and continue in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA

Singapore has expanded temperature screening at Changi Airport, one of Asia’s busiest travel hubs, for all travellers on flights ­arriving from China. The health ministry said individuals with pneumonia and a history of travel to Wuhan within 14 days of the onset of symptoms will be isolated in a hospital as a precautionary measure and investigated. Malaysia has also beefed up screening at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

BANGLADESH

Civil aviation authorities have ordered airport managers to start screening incoming passengers from China. Doctors at the airport will look for fevers, coughs, breathing difficulties and sore throats. The country’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research will be notified of any passengers with symptoms for further examination.

RUSSIA

The healthcare ministry described the virus as a biological hazard for the country. The Russian public health service, Rospotrebnadzor, said it had developed a testing kit that would allow labs to detect the virus quickly. Russia is one of the three most popular tourist ­destinations for people from China.

ITALY

Passengers making direct and indirect flights from Wuhan to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport will be checked for potential signs of the virus. People with suspected infections will be quarantined at an infectious disease hospital in Rome. No cases have been reported so far. Posters at the airport ­advise travellers to consider delaying trips to the Wuhan area and if they do go there, to avoid touching animals or uncooked animal products.

AP