Ebola enters India

‘Screening at airports not done properly'

• Shortage of manpower at AP, TS airports to deal with situation

New Delhi: The guidelines for screening incoming passengers at airports for deadly Ebola virus, including checking their 21-day travel history, are not implemented properly and lacunae have been detected in this, according to a review conducted by the Health Ministry.

Shortage of manpower at airports was also noticed following which the Centre has asked the governments of Maharashtra, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu to provide additional manpower to maintain intensive surveillance at airports.

Of the 14 airports identified, isolation facilities at 12 airports were not at par with the Health Ministry guidelines and thus India at present is using the quarantine facilities only at Delhi and Mumbai. The Ministry has initiated the process of upgrading the isolation facilities at the rest.

A team of Health Ministry officials recently reviewed the arrangements and isolation facilities at airports and hospitals identified by the government and found that the 21-day travel history of the arriving passengers is not checked properly.

Also, the inspecting team reported that health forms were not distributed to passengers on board even though the ground staff of most of the airlines is given the health forms for distribution during disembarkation at the airport, Health Ministry officials said.