JOIN US The Centre on Tuesday issued detailed advisories to airlines, crew members and travellers to prevent the entry of the deadly Ebola virus in India.
In two separate advisories, the Union Health Ministry and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have apprised airlines and the crew of the dos and don’ts in case a passenger is found to have symptoms similar to the Ebola virus disease, which has killed more than 1,000 people so far in four Western African nations.
The cabinet secretary on Tuesday reviewed India’s preparedness and decided to start a portal for easy flow of information between various ministries.
Airlines have been asked to stock 25 triple-layer masks and an equal number of disposable hand gloves, hand sanitisers and disposal bags. These are in addition to the universal precaution kits, which the airlines carry as per the International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines.
The airlines have also been requested to arrange for the distribution of pro forma with copies of ‘Advisory for Airlines on Ebola Virus Disease’ and ‘Advisory for specific public health measures for travellers suspected of EVD’ before disembarking in India. They will have to keep passenger records for follow-up action, if needed.
Travellers who have fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes or bleeding should immediately report to the airline crew and the immigration or medical unit on arrival.