Incheon Airport Ahead of Lunar New Year Holiday, Fully Mobilizes to Prevent Spread of 'Wuhan Pneumonia'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] Amid concerns over the spread of 'Wuhan Pneumonia' (Novel Coronavirus Infection), Incheon International Airport is making all-out efforts in quarantine and hygiene management ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

At around 2 p.m. on the 23rd, passenger planes from China, including Yanji, Hualien, and Jinan, arrived one after another at Terminal 1 of Incheon Airport. Most passengers wore masks on their faces and held a yellow 'Health Status Questionnaire' in one hand. Each passenger had checked for fever and respiratory symptoms on the form.

Quarantine officers from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) at the Incheon Airport National Quarantine Station carefully checked the thermal images from fever detection cameras as well as the answers on the health questionnaires. Recently, as the KCDC raised the infectious disease disaster alert level from 'Interest' to 'Caution,' the quarantine officers have been conducting more detailed inspections.

Although there were no flights arriving from Wuhan, China on this day, the quarantine intensity for all passengers on all flights was strengthened, resulting in lines extending over 50 meters behind the quarantine area. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that international air routes between Korea and Wuhan, China have been temporarily suspended starting from this day. Currently, Korean Air and China Southern Airlines operate four international flights per week each between Incheon and Wuhan.

As soon as the 'Wuhan Pneumonia' outbreak occurred in China at the end of last year, the quarantine station requested Korean Air and the airport corporation to fix gates, and since then, flights from Wuhan have been assigned fixed arrival gates: Gate 112 at Terminal 1 and Gate 246 at Terminal 2. Quarantine officers check the fever status of all passengers in front of the gates for flights arriving from Wuhan. The confirmed 'Wuhan Pneumonia' patient diagnosed domestically on the 20th was also identified through this process.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Incheon International Airport Corporation has increased the frequency of disinfection and sterilization in the arrival hall from once a week to three times a week to prevent virus spread. Ethanol disinfection is performed twice daily, morning and afternoon, on restrooms, nursing rooms, elevators, escalators, public telephones, drinking fountains, and other surfaces frequently touched by travelers. Hand sanitizers have been placed throughout the airport for travelers to use at any time. In the event a suspected patient is identified during the quarantine process and transferred to a government-designated negative pressure isolation room, all transfer routes within the airport will be thoroughly disinfected and sterilized.

The corporation also announced that if travelers from Wuhan have difficulty communicating in Korean or English, Chinese interpretation support will be provided to quarantine officers and epidemiological investigators to ensure accurate investigations.