Public demands screening of all the Andaman bound passengers at Mainland Airports

Vikramaditya
Port Blair, Mar 13: As Corona Virus is spreading rapidly all over the world people of Andaman Nicobar islands are also getting increasingly worried and now several people have contacted Andaman Sheekha and has requested the Administration through this newspaper that the screening of all the Andaman bound passengers via flight should be done at mainland airports and not at Port Blair Airport, by special teams of Andaman Nicobar Health Department.

According to them this should be done to ensure that no one with Corona virus infection is able to board Andaman bound flight.

People fear that if any Corona virus infected person gets on Andaman bound flight he may spread infection among other passengers and when all these passengers will go to their respective homes, the infection will further spread.

Out of this fear many people are now demanding that the Chief Secretary or the Lieutenant Governor of A & N Islands, should depute special health teams at Kolkata, Chennai and Vizag airports, where they should scan all the Andaman bound passengers before they board Andaman flights.

“The Administration is doing great by cancelling all public gathering and declaring holiday in colleges and some classes but there is a need to check the entry points also. Everyday hundreds of tourists and other passengers are reaching Port Blair for tourism and various other purposes. There is always a chance that people infected with Corona Virus might enter Andaman and infect others, which will be a difficult situation for everyone,” said a resident of Andaman.

Expressing gratitude for not allowing non-Islanders to board Andaman bound passenger ship from Mainland another Islander said that if such step can’t be taken for people coming via flight, then atleast they should be screened at Mainland Airport itself.