Coronavirus: Union Home Secretary reviews screening procedure at entry points on land borders

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the screening procedure for passengers arriving in India from the neighboring countries through land borders and urged all the officials to ensure round the clock deployment of doctors at the entry points amid coronavirus concerns, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

In a statement, the ministry added that Bhalla also held video conferences with chief secretaries and DGPs of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Punjab in this regard.

During the conference, the states informed Bhalla that regular screening is being done by doctors at various transit points and the community in border areas has been sensitised through gram sabhas.

As many as 30 people have tested positive for novel coronavirus in India, including 16 Italian nationals who were part of a group visiting the country.

Yesterday, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that the government is proactively engaged in tackling the situation related to coronavirus and 10 lakh people have been screened at India's open borders with Nepal and Bhutan in the last one month.