New Delhi, Apr 01: For days, officials chanted ‘‘everything’s fine here’’ and it was for other nations to worry about the killer pneumonia. But India finally woke up today to the threat from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), announcing that passengers arriving by air from affected countries would be screened and suspect cases immediately reported. With the virus word spreading — air travellers are said to be one of the main carriers of the SARS which originated somewhere in south China and spread to 15 countries, claiming 50 lives and affecting more than 1,500 people — panic-stricken passengers have been cancelling tickets and rescheduling travel plans, especially to south east Asia.

With bookings plunging, Air-India said it was cancelling its weekly flight from Delhi to Hong Kong, effective tomorrow, and the Mumbai-Delhi-Bangkok-Tokyo service from April 16. A review would be undertaken only after a month.
The Ministry of Health today decided to develop a proforma which passengers, arriving from 15 affected-countries, will be required to fill when they disembark.
The proforma, to be developed by Director General Health Services in consultation with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will have specifics on an individual’s current health. Any passenger who falls in the criterion of suspected or probable SARS would be reported to Director, NICD.
Health ministry officials said the decision to come out with a passenger screening proforma was taken at a high-level meeting to review the situation following reports in the media. The meeting, attended by representatives of major hospitals, AIIMS and ICMR, discussed the preparedness of hospitals to deal with the problem.
Speaking to The Indian Express recently, Health Minister Sushma Swaraj had expressed the inability to screen every passenger from affected countries. ‘‘We can’t check each and every passenger arriving from these countries,’’ she said.
‘‘We have instructed officials to keep a check on the spread of the disease. Air travellers need to be monitored but that will also have to be implemented as per the law of the countries,’’ she said.
WHO-India has not issued any specific instructions to the Government so far. ‘‘We are in regular touch with the Ministry of Health but have not issued any specific instructions. The instructions are general and countries across the world have been devising their own methodologies to control the spread,’’ said a WHO-India spokesperson.
Insisting that India is as much at risk as rest of the world, the spokesperson pointed out that not every passenger travelling from these countries was affected.
‘‘WHO releases clearly state that the affected persons have been in close contact with the cases. It’s not that anybody who visits a mall in the country is affected,’’ the spokesperson said.
A March 27 WHO release recommended screening of all passengers coming from affected countries. Recommended measures involved interviews with passengers, advising travellers with fever and suggesting postponement of travel to affected areas. Air travel guidelines also included a step-by-step procedure to follow-up fellow passengers who may have had close contact with possible cases.
The cancellation of Air India flights, however, was forced by the plunge in bookings. ‘‘The Hong Kong flight operates on Thursday and since we have two services to Hong Kong on Friday, we can always accommodate the few passengers who might be affected by the cancellation,’’ a senior A-I official said.
According to Civil Aviation authorities, several Asian airlines have decided to cut down operations to Hong Kong and other parts of south east Asia. Hong Kong-based Dragonair has already cancelled 10 flights to China and Taiwan while Cathay Pacific is also reviewing its flight schedule after reservations fell rapidly.
To the aviation industry which is already reeling under the impact of the war in Iraq, SARS has presented a fresh challenge. With the disease still wearing its mysterious cloak, its full impact on airlines business will emerge in the days ahead.