In view of the Ebola outbreak, the Indian government launched a self-declaration portal for testing. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) have launched AIR SUVIDHA 2.0, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
The government said the contactless passenger health self-declaration portal will strengthen public health surveillance at entry points in response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak.
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The online system replaces the previous paper-based process and aims to enhance health monitoring while facilitating smoother processing of passengers at entry points.
She added that the portal was developed in cooperation with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and enables travelers arriving from international destinations to submit a mandatory health declaration online.
The declaration will include 21 days of travel history, exposure history and relevant symptoms, if any, prior to immigration clearance.
“The portal enables real-time data exchange with the airport health officer, immigration office, IDSP and state control officers, and enables rapid identification and referral of at-risk passengers – keeping the arrival experience seamless and contactless, with no physical forms to fill out upon landing,” the government said.
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Earlier, Union Health Minister JP Nadda on June 17 said India had announced US$ 10 million for preparedness, response and recovery amid the ongoing Ebola outbreak at the ‘virtual summit’ organized by the African Union.
Meanwhile, a doctor who returned to France after doing humanitarian work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been infected with Ebola, according to the French Ministry of Health, which has identified five potential contacts who should be isolated, Bloomberg reported.
This patient is the first case of Ebola identified outside the region during the current outbreak. The ministry said on Wednesday that his condition was stable and he was receiving care at a specialized facility.
More than 1,100 people have died and nearly 280 have died from the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in Congo and Uganda. Health officials are struggling to trace contacts and contain transmission in a region plagued by insecurity, displacement, hunger and gaps in disease surveillance.
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The White House is also seeking more than $1.4 billion in new money from Congress to address the expanding Ebola outbreak, including $800 million to respond to humanitarian crises, according to a Trump administration official.
The move is part of a larger supplemental funding request made by the White House on Wednesday in a letter to Congress.
