RAWALPINDI: Automatic thermal scanners have been installed at the airports of Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar to check passengers arriving from abroad for the symptoms of coronavirus.

Medical teams deployed at the airports have so far scanned more than 600,000 passengers arriving by international flights.

Initially, a thermal scanner was installed at Islamabad International Airport (IIA) after which Jinnah International Airport Karachi, Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore and Bacha Khan International Airport Peshawar were also provided with the machines.

Installation of the thermal scanners will help the health authorities complete the scanning of passengers in a shortest possible time.

Passengers and crew members of all international flights are scanned for symptoms of coronavirus and suspected passengers are quarantined and later shifted to government hospitals for further treatment.

The government has imported five latest scanners, four of which have been installed in the airports while the remaining one has been kept at a standby.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2020