Hyderabad, June 8 (IANS). The Telangana government has taken serious note of the issue of some travelers coming to Hyderabad from Ebola-affected countries giving wrong addresses. Telangana Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha on Monday ordered registration of cases against such persons.
He ordered to register cases against those giving false information, as per applicable laws, including the Epidemic Diseases Act.
The Minister directed that passengers should be clearly informed at the airport itself that providing wrong information may lead to consequences like legal action and registration of cases.
During the review meeting on Ebola, officials informed the minister that some travelers coming from abroad were not staying at their given addresses. The minister took this matter seriously.
He stressed that travelers coming from Ebola-affected countries must provide accurate and correct information, including their address and phone number.
He directed the officers that acts like giving false information or hiding facts should be taken extremely seriously.
The minister ordered that the assistance of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) be sought to effectively communicate with foreign travelers. He suggested that staff proficient in essential foreign languages such as French, Arabic and Swahili, widely spoken in Ebola-affected countries, be made available at the airport around the clock, in three shifts, so that surveillance and information-collection processes could be managed more efficiently.
The meeting reviewed the precautionary measures, surveillance, inter-departmental coordination and emergency response systems implemented in the State in the wake of the Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.
Officials informed the Minister that special surveillance was being maintained on domestic and international travelers coming to the state from Ebola-affected countries. He informed that screening and surveillance systems have been further strengthened at Shamshabad airport.
Officials said details of passengers coming from the affected countries are being collected and their health is being continuously monitored for 21 days. Persons showing suspicious symptoms are being immediately identified and kept in isolation at Gandhi Hospital.
The Minister was informed that two suspected cases have been kept in isolation at Gandhi Hospital; Their samples were sent to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV), and the reports of both have come negative. He further informed that the samples were collected again following ICMR guidelines and sent to NIV Pune for further testing. He said that if the result of the second test also comes negative, the individuals will be discharged from isolation.
The Minister directed that there should not be any negligence in the collection and testing of suspicious samples. He also requested the Director of Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) to provide necessary support to the Health Department.
–IANS
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