ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has begun screening travelers at its four majors airports for signs of the coronavirus.
The country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in a statement on Thursday the measures focus on screening all passengers arriving from China, especially on 17 weekly flights to Islamabad.
The passengers will have to go through health counters for thermal body scanning.
The authority said a person suspected of having contracted the virus will be kept in an isolated room until they are shifted to the capital’s main health facility Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital.
At Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, the CAA has also installed thermal scanners, and quarantine rooms have been set up in accordance with international standards, the statement said.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said it is vigilant about the spread of the disease across Asia, as over 500 people in China have already been infected with the deadly virus.
“NDMA in collaboration with Army Medical Corps, Ministry of Health & relevant stakeholders initiated precautionary measures to keep Pakistan safe from the threat,” NDMA said in a tweet.
