Coronavirus outbreak: Government wants travellers to fill 'Self-reporting Form' at airport

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that self-declaration form will be given to the tourists at the airport, which will help authorities to tackle the Coronavirus outbreak. The ‘self-reporting form’ is issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that asks for details such as the flight number, the origin of the journey and a passenger’s final destination (in case he/she is staying in India for layover), apart from the regular details about the person’s name, address, mobile number, e-mail ID etc.

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Apart from this information, the form also has a set of questions specifically about China's travel history, where the coronavirus originated in December last year. The list of questions asks the passengers are as follows; what all cities he/she visited in China, if Wuhan was one of them; if yes, the period of stay in Wuhan and did the passenger visit any seafood market. The final question in the form asks the traveller to declare if he/she is suffering from fever, cough or any other respiratory distress.

Here is the 'Self Reporting form' by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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In a health advisory issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, it is mandatory for the passengers to furnish duly-filled self-declaration form to health officials and immigration officials, and undergo universal health screening at the designated health counters at all points of entry. The Ministry has also imposed visa restrictions for passengers travelling from/having visited Italy or the Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorised by the health authorities of these countries, states the health advisory.

After chairing a high-level meeting on Coronavirus, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan stressed on the need to voluntarily declare the travel history so that it becomes easier to check the spread of coronavirus.

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WHO declares Coronavirus a 'pandemic'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday has declared COVID-19 a 'pandemic' as the virus continues to spread worldwide. The virus, which has reportedly originated from Wuhan, China, has so far claimed 3,893 lives with 111,862 cases detected worldwide. So far, 43 people have been tested positive in India. However, no deaths have been reported in India yet.

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