Thermal sensors at airport to screen passengers for H1N1

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Sept 19:

Chennai: Four thermal sensors were installed at the international arrival terminal of Chennai airport on Friday to screen passengers for symptoms of H1N1 flu. 

    “These sensors will help to find out passengers who have unusually high body temperature, a sign of the illness. A white patch will appear on the silhouette of a passenger shown on the screen if his or her body temperature is high,” airport acting director T Ramgopal said. 

    More than 5,000 passengers arrive from different countries at Chennai airport everyday. The machines would scan the pas

sengers as they walk out towards the exit after completing arrival formalities at the airport. Teams of doctors from the Central Government Health Scheme and other doctors from state cadres have been roped in for screening people at the international airport. 

    Airport officials said manual checking of passengers would continue in spite of the installation of sensors. “Passengers detected by the sensors will be isolated for further checks and will be quarantined if they show symptoms,” an official said. 

    Need for sensors was felt after manual screening alone proved porous. An assurance to install thermal sensors at airports was given in May by Union Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekharan during a meeting of all state chief and health secretaries through videoconferencing.