Coronavirus outbreak: Indian Railways passengers to undergo thermal screening at stations; TN govt draws plan

Coronavirus outbreak in India: As a precautionary measure to contain the Coronavirus infection across India, Indian Railways passengers will undergo thermal screening at some railway stations. The Tamil Nadu (TN) government has drawn up some plans for conducting the thermal screenings of passengers at the railway stations in the state, according to a PTI report. C Vijayabhaskar, Health Minister was quoted in the report saying that this advisory is to be followed in the wake of the Coronavirus threat. The Tamil Nadu government has appealed to people to avoid non-essential travel across the Indian Railways network or in public transport.

Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar stated that after reviewing the precautionary measures at the Chennai Central railway station in the state, thermal screening has been planned at stations. This will be taken up in association with the railway police as well as the health department officials as part of the Coronavirus prevention awareness campaign. For preventing the spread of the infection inside trains, the Southern Railways zone had also cancelled special trains which were operating from the city of Chennai. The thermal screening of passengers will be conducted at stations as well as inside the trains.

The Tamil Nadu government has also appealed to those people who have recently travelled to Coronavirus-affected countries, to undergo tests for COVID-19. The Health Minister added that the state government has received the approval from the Central government for setting up testing centres at Theni, Tiruvarur and at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. The labs at the government hospitals will also be testing the samples for COVID-19.

In order to prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus infection, the Southern Railways zone has also taken several measures on the network. Some of these measures include sanitisation of railway stations, with special emphasis on direct contact areas such as lifts, escalators, staircases, seats. The handles of local trains are also being cleaned regularly. For reducing the number of non-travellers at stations, the Chennai division has increased the platform ticket cost to Rs 50 at Chennai Egmore, Chennai Central and Tambaram railway stations.