Hanoi starts temperature screenings at Noi Bai Airport

Passengers at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi will be checked for temperature and monitored if showing symptoms of fevers or cold, following a new flu outbreak in China.

Passengers at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi will be checked for temperature and monitored if showing symptoms of fevers or cold, following a new flu outbreak in China.

  

The outbreak started in Wuhan, China, in December 2019

Nguyen Nhat Cam, director of the Hanoi Centre for Preventive Medicine said temperature screenings had been implemented at Noi Bai International Airport. Hanoi authorities will screen all passengers especially those that had visited parts of China that had seen outbreaks of flu. Passengers with fevers would be checked and those that have visited affected areas would be monitored.

Pneumonia patients at medical facilities will also be closely monitored.

"We'll work 24/24 and have set up a quick response team for suspected cases," he said.

The Ministry of Health has closely followed the development in China and asked local departments of health to inspect everyone and commodities that have been through the outbreak areas. There is an attempt to provide early detection of sick people so they can be quickly quarantined and provided with treatment. The authorities were also asked to prepare in case there was an outbreak.

The outbreak started in Wuhan in December 2019. As of January 5, a total of 44 cases of the mystery viral pneumonia have been confirmed, 11 of which are considered severe, two has recovered and the rest are in stable condition. No fatality has been reported.

Also on January 5, a little girl with pneumonia who had returned from Wuhan was found in Singapore. However, Singapore’s Ministry of Health later confirmed that the cause of the girl’s pneumonia was Respiratory Syncytial Virus, a common cause for childhood respiratory infection.

14 cases have been reported in Hong Kong. Two of them had been to Wuhan nearly two weeks in prior. All of the patients experienced symptoms including cough, fever, and shortness of breath.