Staff Reporter :
Authorities of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka will screen passengers arriving from China for a new virus that has sickened dozens, killed two and prompted worries about an international outbreak.
Airport officials said passengers who have travelled to China in the last 14 days and have flu-like symptoms will be screened at the HSIA.
All incoming passengers from China would be screened from Tuesday, said a HSIA anonymous said an airport. If symptoms are found in passengers, then the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) would be notified. The IEDCR would then test the passengers further.
The symptoms the airport authorities would look for are fever, cough, cold, breathing difficulties and sore throat.
The alert was issued after the civil aviation authorities met with the IEDCR representatives on Monday.
There are fears of a major outbreak of the virus as millions begin travelling for the Lunar New Year in humanity’s biggest migration.
The new coronavirus strain has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
At least a half-dozen countries in Asia have started screening incoming airline passengers from central China. The list includes Thailand and Japan, which both have reported cases of the disease in people who had come from Wuhan. Travel is unusually heavy right now as people take trips to and from China to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
