Italy, Turkey screening all arriving passengers

ROME — Italy and Turkey said Wednesday they were taking the temperatures of all arriving airline passengers in new prevention measures aimed at halting the spread of a virus outbreak that has killed hundreds of people in China.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said thermal cameras installed at Turkish airports would begin screening all arriving passengers Thursday. Previously, Turkey was screening travelers from China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Malaysia.

Italy on Jan. 30 barred all commercial flights to and from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the same day two Chinese tourists from hard-hit Wuhan tested positive for the new type of coronavirus in Rome.

But to boost precautions involving passengers from other countries, the Italian health ministry and civil protection agency announced they would use thermo-scanners “on all arriving passengers.”

“It is clear that this is a temporary measure,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told The Associated Press.

He indicated that Italy’s flight ban might ease once the scanners are all in place.

The two Chinese tourists in Italy afflicted with the virus took a turn for the worse Tuesday and were moved into intensive care at Rome’s Lazzaro Spallanzani infectious disease hospital, suffering also from viral pneumonia.

The two were given respiratory help and are undergoing experimental anti-viral treatment, the hospital said.