BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24
By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:
Uzbekistan's international airports have introduced additional checks for passengers arriving in the country, said Uzbekistan's Chief Doctor of the Republican Center of State Sanitary-Epidemiology Surveillance (CSSES) of the Ministry of Health Bakhrom Almatov, Trend reports citing the Uzbek media.
"Particularly enhanced monitoring has been introduced for flights from Chinese cities from which unknown coronavirus has started to spread," Almatov said.
All Uzbekistan’s international airports have been equipped with portable thermal imaging cameras. Flight attendants of Uzbek airlines have been instructed to detect sick passengers. In addition, 37 border checkpoints are equipped with sanitary quarantine points, the chief doctor added.
"First of all, we will check passengers arriving from China and other regions where the epidemiological situation is deteriorating. All 11 international airports in Uzbekistan are equipped with portable thermal imaging cameras. Our specialists work at the sanitation and quarantine points," Almatov said.
On 31 December 2019, World Health Organization's China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The first cases are linked to a local wholesale market where seafood was sold. On 7 January 2020, Chinese experts identified the pathogen, Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
Flights, trains and buses from the Wuhan city have been temporarily suspended. In addition, regional authorities have banned intercity buses travelling to Wuhan. Separate check queues are being created at airports and stations for passengers from Wuhan.
Wuhan has a population of over 11 million and is the largest city in central China. It is the capital of Hubei Province, with more than 58 million people living there.
According to China's National Health Commission, the number of people suffering from Coronavirus 2019-nCoV virus pneumonia now stands at 541 and 17 has died. Cases have been identified in Thailand, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the USA.