JOIN USAfter undergoing a thorough screening process, 98 Indians, who arrived at Mumbai and Delhi airports from the Ebola-hit nations of Liberia and Nigeria on Tuesday, were termed “healthy” by the government.
While 85 people— 66 from Liberia and 19 from Nigeria— landed at the Mumbai airport, 13 from Liberia reached the Delhi airport.
“Sixty-six passengers have landed in Mumbai and 13 in Delhi (from Liberia). They have been screened and are found to be healthy. No passenger has been isolated,” the Union Health Ministry said. It reiterated that no case of Ebola Virus Disease has been detected in India so far.
The Mumbai International Airport Limited said in a statement that all concerned passengers were cleared by the Airport Health Organisation (APHO) after undergoing a screening process in the presence of Health Ministry officials. None of them showed any symptoms of Ebola or had a history of contact with anybody afflicted with the disease, it confirmed.
As per procedure, after all batches of passengers were disembarked, the three aircraft they arrived in were disinfected by APHO teams. The aircraft were allowed to board other passengers only after a mandatory thirty-minute disinfection process.
At the Delhi airport, sources said the passengers coming from Liberia were asked to mention in a form whether or not they had exhibited Ebola-like symptoms.
They were then made to pass through a thermal scanner and those who had above-normal temperature were isolated and taken to hospital to ensure that none of them were running a fever.
The Health Ministry asserted that it was taking all preventive measures through the screening process, even though other countries had not adopted such a protocol.
The Health Ministry has alerted the states to follow up with the passengers on a daily basis. A total of 44,700 Indians are living in different countries affected by Ebola, a virus that has claimed over 1,400 lives .