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.
The poor immigration officers – who need to come in contact with thousands of passports – did not have a hand sanitiser, nor gloves etc
— Ritu Kapur (@kapur_ritu) March 5, 2020
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.
Screening is only happening on Papers. The entry exit point i.e Airport and Seaport are not provided with adequate facilities to screen visitors. No guidelines to practice are given to officials. It’s only happening on paper only after 29 positive cases are reported in India.
— lovethysoul (@Kohe_Giran) March 5, 2020
Others also shared similar accounts of weak or no screening of passengers coming from abroad.
Screening is only happening on Papers. The entry exit point i.e Airport and Seaport are not provided with adequate facilities to screen visitors. No guidelines to practice are given to officials. It’s only happening on paper only after 29 positive cases are reported in India.
— lovethysoul (@Kohe_Giran) March 5, 2020
Why is there is no screening at the Indian international airports for corona virus infection?2 of my acquaintances entered country from dubai without any screening just today morning!! @drharshvardhan @MoHFW_INDIA @EtelaRajender
— Priyanka Dubey (@pri_dp) March 5, 2020
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.
I travelled day before yesterday and there wasn’t anyone to do a basic screening. No sanitizers at the airport. I think its high time that India shouldn’t be lenient and take serious measures before it spreads and goes out of control.
— Anupriya Batra (@anupriya_batra) March 3, 2020
@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.
