Coronavirus: Flyers from 15 countries to be segregated at immigration, custom, baggage belt

NEW DELHI: People flying into India from US, France and Spain will now need to be segregated from other international arrivals at airports to minimise the chances of further spread of coronavirus. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Monday said these three countries have been added to the earlier list of 12 corona hotspots — China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hongkong, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia — for segregation at airports on arrival.
“Chairman AAI, health ministry officers and DGCA reviewed arrangements made at all international airports to control spread of coronavirus.Airports advised to include passengers from US, France and Spain to the list of nations (now 15) from where arriving passengers needs segregation as per health ministry,” AAI Tweeted on Monday.

Passengers from these countries will be prohibited from mixing in health screening, immigration and conveyer belt areas on arrival.
The decision for segregation was taken last Thursday when hours after ordering medical screening of passengers flying in from all countries, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan visited Delhi Airport. He was concerned at passengers from corona hotspots using the same passages in arrival terminal as flyers from less exposed countries, increasing the likelihood of spread of infection from them.
The same night, the health ministry had directed carving of separate passages at immigration, customs clearance and baggage belts for international passengers coming from hotspot countries.