COVID-19 Passengers thinning: Screening process at Mumbai airport quick, say passengers

The travel restrictions, which seek to control entry and exit of people in the country, were announced in the wake of growing cases of COVID-19. So far, Maharashtra has reported 17 cases of COVID-19.

Prakash Patel, a 34-year-old businessman, who returned from Thailand with his friend recently, said, “During our one-week stay at Thailand, we read on the social media that the screening process at Mumbai airport was taking a lot of time, with many expressing apprehension of contracting the infection while waiting in a queue. Though we were mentally prepared to wait in the airport on return, nothing of that sort happened. In fact, we were out of Mumbai airport after completing all screening and formalities within an hour’s time.”

To ensure a glitch-free screening procedure, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has deputed 48 doctors and 18 para-medical staff at the airport for a thermal screening of passengers. Ten counters, equipped with 25 scanners, have been set up for thermal scanning of passengers, officials said.

A security guard said they have been directed to maintain one-metre distance from passengers as well.

Sama Lamba, 39, who reached Mumbai from Dubai with her two children, said, “We were given two identical forms after landing and directed to fill them with details of our seat numbers, address and travel history. The first form was to be given at the thermal screening counter, where our temperature and breathing condition were checked. The second one was to be submitted at the immigration counter, where the travel history mentioned in the form was verified with the passport. The process was quick.”

With many flights already cancelled and passengers avoiding travel, the entire process of screening and immigration, Lamba said, took not more than 30 minutes.

Businessman Wasif Sayyed, who had gone to Munich early last week for an official meeting, said he had a flight back to India on Friday. “I had to advance it by a day after the government announced that passengers from Germany who return to India after Friday will be sent to 14-day quarantine,” he said. The screening process here, he added, did not take longer than 30 minutes.

Kandivali resident, Sandeep Khushwaha, a 35-year-old data scientist, who landed on a late-night flight Thursday, said the process of screening was explained properly and did not take much time. “There were only 10 people in the queue. At Bangkok, too, we were screened before boarding,” he said.

Khushwaha, who was scheduled to return from his trip in April, said, “If there is a lock down in Mumbai, I’d like to ensure all supplies are in place at home. I would have felt safer in Bangkok, but to be home in such a situation is always better.”

With passengers traffic thinning, food stall owners on airport premises said business has been bearish over the last few days. Shiv Sagar stall, located near the arrival gate of Terminal 2, has noticed a 60 per cent drop in sales. Manager Ravi Pujari said they have not been instructed to shut down their counter as yet. “Customers would earlier flood our counters, but now there are hardly any people here. This is the first time I am seeing such a deserted airport,” he said.