Dhaka airport to screen passengers from China

The authorities of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital were set to start screening passengers arriving from China on Tuesday following outbreak of new coronavirus that has so far claimed four lives and sickened many in China.

The airport authorities on Monday conducted a workshop for representatives from different airlines over the virus attack and will start screening passengers from China, Beni Madhab Biswas, deputy director of Dhaka airport told UNB.

They were also informed what to do if they find any passenger with flu-like symptoms, he added.

Beni Madhab also said passengers of three flights from China -- two of Chinese Airlines and one of US Bangla Airlines -- will be screened by the physicians of Health Centre at Dhaka Airport.

More than 200 people since last month were infected with new coronavirus in China, while the epidemiologists still uncertain of its nature and mode of transmission, according to an AP report.

Chinese health authorities confirmed late Monday that some cases had been transmitted person-to-person, a development that means the illness could spread faster and more widely, particularly at the start of the Lunar New Year travel rush.

Chinese president Xi Jinping on Monday instructed government departments to promptly release information on the virus and deepen international cooperation.

Concerned about a global outbreak similar to SARS, which spread from China to more than a dozen countries in 2002-2003, numerous nations have adopted screening measures for travelers arriving from China, especially those from the central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak is thought to have originated and which has accounted for the vast majority of the cases.