Mangaluru: Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) has streamlined the process of screening of international passengers including those arriving from at risk (AR) countries, pursuant to the directive from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) on Tuesday December 8. The entire process is now being completed in the pre-immigration area at the international arrival hall of MIA from Wednesday 8.
Hitherto, our International passengers including those arriving from or having transited through the at-risk countries underwent their rapid RT – PCR tests at the arrival hall of the airport after clearing the immigration and customs. MIA has organised to collect swabs of passengers from at-risk countries and 2% of the passengers arriving from other non-at risk countries selected by the airline concerned.
A dedicated Registration desk, May I help desk and foreign exchange services along with a refreshment counter has been set up for passengers in the International arrival area. A separate holding area has also been created for passengers arriving from at-risk countries. Rollable standees have been set up at vantage points explaining the latest guidelines issued by the ministry of health and family welfare for International passengers.
A special isolation room too has been set up in the arrival area to hold passengers testing positive for the Coronavirus. The Airport Health Organisation (APHO) staff has been issued with PPE kits to transport passenger testing positive through a safe route to the ambulance from where they will be taken to institutional quarantine. Other passengers have been requested to follow the directive given by the local health authorities.
Since the new testing process was initiated on Thursday December 2 for the Covid – 19, Omicron, with this variant emerging as variant of concern, 74 passengers including 10 from at-risk countries have been screened on arrival at MIA and all have tested negative for Coronavirus. MIA is working closely with all stakeholders including the health officers deputed by the department of health and family welfare and the APHO in ensuring the safety, health, and well-being of our passengers always.
