Mumbai airport to screen passengers from Ebola-hit Liberia

Elaborate precautionary arrangements have been put in place at the Mumbai Airport to screen the 112 stranded Indians, who are expected to arrive on Tuesday by various flights from and around the Ebola-hit Liberia, authorities said in Mumbai on Monday.

“As part of the tentative plan, the aircraft will be first taken to a remote bay and all passengers will be screened at the step-ladder exit after the arrival of flights at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA),” Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said here.

Besides, while the passengers without any symptoms will be cleared and shifted to terminal for immigration and customs clearance, those coming from Liberia with symptoms suggestive of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), will be directly shifted to designated hospital in ambulance from the bay, it said.

According to MIAL, Ethiopian Airline, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Jet and South African Airways are flying these passengers to Mumbai.

Some of these passengers will first arrive in Delhi and then come to Mumbai by domestic airlines flight, MIAL said.

MIAL also said the baggage of the flights need to be kept separate by the concerned airline in their custody, adding disinfection of the flight will be carried out once all passengers would be deboarded.

Flights will be allowed to board next passengers only after thirty minutes of disinfection, it added.