Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered screening of passengers from four more countries- Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia in a bid to further strengthen precautionary measures to avert entry of Novel coronavirus (COVID-19). With this move, fliers from as many as 10 countries would be screened at Indian airports. The decision was taken after Rajiv Guaba, Cabinet Secretary on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting to review the status, actions taken and preparedness of States/UTs regarding management of Novel Coronavirus (COVID19). Hence, post the review, in addition to the universal screening as per earlier advisories, universal screening at airports is now being planned for flights from Kathmandu, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, the officials had said. Until Saturday, 21,805 passengers have been brought under community surveillance. In addition, 3,97,152 flight passengers and 9,695 travellers at sea ports have been screened.
Read More »China: Airlines on high alert as coronavirus outbreak spreads, multiple flights cancelled
Airlines and passengers are on guard against a new flu-like virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Many airlines, including Korean Air Lines, Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier Scoot, Taiwan’s China Airlines and Japan’s ANA, announced they were cancelling flights in and out of Wuhan after authorities announced a lockdown. South Korean budget carrier T’way Air earlier this week postponed the scheduled launch of a new route to the city. On Thursday, 184 flights to/from Wuhan, or 60% of the departures listed for the day, had been cancelled.
Read More »