Tough Border Security
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday October 22, 2005
AIRCRAFT could be turned away from Australia under the Federal Government's border security plan, to be activated if the flu threat intensifies.
Passengers arriving in Australia would have to fill out detailed health declaration cards, and pilots would have to report anybody on their planes who had a temperature before passengers were allowed to disembark. If a "suspect case" were found on a plane, a nurse would be called to take that passenger to an isolation hospital.According to the Health Department: "In some situations, large numbers of people arriving at the border may need to be quarantined from others, to prevent transmission of pandemic influenza." People who arrive on a plane with an infected passenger could be quarantined, probably in hangars at airports, to see if they became ill. Up to 500 people could be kept there for six days at a time. A spokesman for the Health Department said the Government had purchased the equipment - including protective gear, beds and linen - to fit out the hangars, and it was negotiating with airports around the country on the location of the quarantine facilities. The Government was also looking at using town halls or schools as mass quarantine facilities.The Government has purchased a number of heat detectors, which will be used in airports to screen passengers for temperatures.And, in some cases, planes could be refused permission to land in Australia, while all flights from certain affected countries could be told not to come at all.If the bird flu pandemic took hold inside Australia, authorities would also consider carrying out screening of passengers leaving the country. They would be checked with thermal screening equipment for signs of a fever and would be required to fill out health declaration cards. Affected people could be prevented from leaving Australia in order to stop the spread of the disease to other countries.Planes have never been turned back from Australia, but at the height of the SARS crisis, pilots were required to give the all clear for their passengers, and nurses did, on some occasions, board planes to check on people's health.
© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald