VIRUS SCREENING MEASURES WIDEN AT RGIA

Screening of international passengers arriving at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport for possible infection of the novel coronavirus strain has been expanded to include flights from Malaysia, beginning Sunday.

Passengers arriving from other Covid-19-hit countries are already being screened upon landing at the airport.

On Sunday, the state health department said, “So far, 103 individuals were tested for the disease with all test results coming negative.”

As of Sunday, two persons have been placed under observation at the isolation ward in Gandhi General Hospital and results on tests on blood and mouth swab samples collected from them would be available on Monday.

So far, no positive cases of Covid-19 have been detected in Telangana state, the department said.

Incoming flights from Malaysia were added to the list of arrivals here in the city, following a directive on Sunday from Director General of Civil Aviation in New Delhi to immediately begin screening passengers from Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Of these four countries, Hyderabad has direct flight connectivity to only Malaysia with airlines flying to and from the city to Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Previously, passengers from China, Hong Kong Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore were being screened at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airports for symptoms of novel coronavirus.