NAIA beefs up safety measures with 5 more thermal scanners

MANILA, Philippines – Additional thermal scanners will soon be set up in departure areas of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), even as airport inspectors start donning masks. In his latest directive, NAIA general manager Alfonso Cusi said that five additional thermal scanners should be installed “as soon as possible" to ensure the country would remain safe from the Influenza A (H1N1) virus. The thermal scanners – used by the NAIA in 2003 at the height of the SARS outbreak – have been reactivated to screen travelers coming into the country for fever, one of the symptoms of A (H1N1) that has triggered a global scare after killing people in Mexico and the United States. Cusi said in a statement that three new scanners should be set up at the arrival section of the NAIA Terminal 1, while one scanner each should be placed at the airport’s Terminals 2 and 3. “This proactive measure is our contribution to the worldwide effort in the containment of the virus," Cusi said. The same number of scanners had long been installed at the NAIA although only at the airport’s arrival area. At present, the arrival section of NAIA Terminal 1 has three thermal scanners, while Terminal 2 and 3 each has one. Airport inspectors have already begun wearing masks to avoid contracting the virus in case it reaches the country. The government officials have been saying the disease has not entered the country yet. Airport officials earlier held off six incoming travelers from Hong Kong who registered high temperatures in the scanners. They were later released after testing negative for the A (H1N1) virus. “We are doing this for the good of our countrymen and tourists alike. Times like this require drastic measures which we are sure the public would clearly understand as it is a worldwide concern," Cusi stressed. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the World health Organization, over 1,440 cases have been confirmed since the virus started spreading out of Mexico last April. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV