People coming from China will be screened at airports in India: MEA on coronavirus outbreak

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to grow in China, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that people coming from the Asian country will have to mandatorily go through a screening process at airports in India.

"Advisory has been issued by Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and our consulates in China. People coming from China will have to go through the screening process (at airports)," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a weekly briefing here.

"As far as protecting oneself while living in China is concerned, our missions have made an effort for this there. But if you come to India you will have to go through the screening process," he added.

At least 17 people have been killed and 570 people are infected with coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million.

The authorities have enacted strict travel bans for the central Chinese cities of Huanggang, Ezhou and Wuhan, collectively home to nearly 20 million people, according to the New York Times.

So far, the cases of the virus have been detected in the US, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand.

The virus can spread person to person, though not nearly as easily as viruses such as measles or influenza.

The virus, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, is thought to have originated in a seafood and animal meat market in Wuhan.