Mangalore, May 29: Dakshina Kannada District Health Officer Dr H S Shivakumar said that the passive screening of all passengers landing in Mangalore from Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Yemen began at Mangalore International Airport on arrival on Thursday.
He said that two medical teams consisting of a doctor and two paramedics would be appointed to screen the arriving passengers day and night at the airport. In case of suspicion of the respiratory disease in a passenger, two sets of samples of blood and respiratory secretion will be sent to Kasturba Medical College, Manipal and National Institute of Biologicals (NIB), Pune for testing, he said, adding that the affected patients would show symptoms such as cough, high fever and shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing.
The district health department has deployed a health screening centre and a quarantine zone at the Mangalore airport along with medical staff on 24-hour rotation basis. If any patient is found infected with the corona virus, he/she will be quarantined and shifted to the district Wenlock Hospital, he said.
Suspected case of MERS proves negative
Last week, there was apprehension in the district over a suspected case of MERS corona-virus in a woman returning to Mangalore after her Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Following her quarantine, Dr Shivakumar said that the tests conducted on the blood samples of the patient reported negative results, and she was diagnosed for Influenza B virus. Following the guidelines announced by the state health department, the district health authorities have sent the samples to NIB, Pune for secondary confirmation of the same, he said.
The patient is under observation and recovering at a private hospital in Mangalore, he added.
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