In January this year, several airports around the world started announcing preventive safety measures against the spread of coronavirus. However, the task has proven difficult as thermal screening isn’t always effective at detecting early signs of infection. ABI MILLAR reports.
In mid-January, shortly after the start of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, a number of international airports began to announce preventative safety measures. Months later, with governments enforcing travel bans and closing their borders, demand for air travel worldwide has plummeted, airlines have cancelled/scaled back hundreds of flights, and many airports lie dormant around the world.
Since the outbreak began, some countries have introduced temperature checks for incoming travellers, to detect signs of coronavirus-related fever. As of 7 April, there have been more than a million cases of Covid-19 across more than 200 countries and over 75,000 deaths.
Initially concentrated in the Hubei province of China, where the outbreak began, the US now has the majority of recorded cases (over a quarter of a million), while the World Health Organization has called Europe the ‘epicentre’ of the pandemic. Travel restrictions look set to continue for the foreseeable future.
Read the rest of this article in the April 2020 edition of Airport Industry Review
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