The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have increased to 30 in India. Just yesterday, 23 new cases were detected in India, of which 15 were Italian tourists.
Amidst this, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan announced that all passengers travelling on international flights will now have to undergo screening before entering India.
But the real situation seems to be very different from what is being promised by the government.
People who have recently travelled from abroad shared their accounts on Twitter, bringing to light the ground realities.
According to one user, the immigration officers at an airport do not have access to basic medical hygiene products like hand sanitisers and gloves.
Another user pointed out that there's no screening at the airports in India.
Same here, came back 2 days back
— Jasmeen Singh Grewal (@jsgrewal83) March 5, 2020
No screening at airport only they made separate counters for Chinese and Singaporean
Apparently, according to some people, they are only made to fill forms and sign papers.
Others also shared similar accounts of weak or no screening of passengers coming from abroad.
Dear @drharshvardhan ji.. I landed this Sunday in Delhi (from Nigeria via Dubai) with Emirates. 9 am on Sunday. There was no screening at the airport (unless I missed any hidden thermal scanner).
— Bindesh Pandey (@bindeshpandey) March 3, 2020
It’s not surprising that we have confirmed cases of #COVID in India.
@MoHFW_INDIA No screening of #coronavirus is being conducted at Mumbai Airport. @narendramodi @AUThackeray
— Praveen Dixit ( Pandit) (@steeldixit) March 4, 2020
We hope that the authorities implement stringent action and screening as soon as possible.