Flu screening counter at airport ..
The Department of Public Health has opened a counter at the airport here to screen passengers arriving by flights from other countries or by domestic connecting flights for symptoms of swine flu that has hit Mexico.Six doctors and two paramedics have been posted at the screening counter at the exit of the arrivals section. Pamphlets explaining the symptoms and causes of swine flu and the curative and preventive measures to be taken are being distributed among the passengers as part of sensitisation efforts.Supervising the screening, Joint Director of Health Services M. Duraikannan told the focus is mostly on the international flights from Singapore and Sharjah. Foreign tourists who arrive by connecting domestic flights from other cities in India and also overseas Indians are being screened.
“We pointed this out to Director of Public Health P. Elango, so that we could initiate the screening process early because of the tourism factor,” he said. District Collector V. Palanikumar also discussed the preventive measures with the health authorities.“If we detect symptoms of the flu in passengers, we will send them to a quarantine ward at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital,” he said.
