Coronavirus outbreak: Kerala Health dept issues alert, surveillance at 4 airports

KK Shailaja
Kerala health minister KK Shailaja

Thiruvananthapuram: The Health department in Kerala has issued an alert in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak in China.

Surveillance in all the four airports in the state-- Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur--has been stepped up, State Health minister K K Shailaja said in a press release.

Those who have returned from China should inform district medical officers, the minister added.

Seven major international airports, including Kochi, had been put on high alert by the centre as part of preparations to tackle a possible coronavirus outbreak in the country. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has informed that all tourists arriving from China and Hong Kong will have to undergo medical examination.

States have been asked to review their preparedness, identify gaps and strengthen core capacities in the area of surveillance, laboratory support and in particular, hospital preparedness in terms of isolation and ventilator management of patients with severe respiratory illness.

The health ministry has written to the civil aviation ministry for thermal screening of passengers at the international airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin.

(With inputs from PTI.)

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.