Screening to counter Ebola threat now in force at all international airports in the Czech Republic

Screening was introduced at the Czech Republic’s five international airports on Tuesday morning to counter the growing threat from Ebola. The checks, ordered by the country’s chief hygiene officer, range from filling in a form to undergoing a medical check-up at the airport.

Medical check-up at the airport, photo: CTK

As of Tuesday morning all passengers on international flights landing in Prague, Karlovy Vary, Pardubice, Ostrava and Brno are being asked to fill in screening forms aboard the plane. In the so-called “arrival cards” passengers are asked to give their name and surname, year of birth, passport number, phone number, place of residence in the Czech Republic and expected length of stay. They are also asked to declare whether they have visited any of the Ebola-affected countries named within the last 42 days – which is double the incubation period of the Ebola virus. The cards are available in Czech and English and are obligatory for all passengers including children which their parents will be asked to fill in for them.

The screening forms are collected by flight attendants who are not allowed to read them and who hand them directly to border control. Potentially risky passengers will be requested to undergo a medical check by a doctor and have their temperature taken. According to the country’s chief hygiene officer the process should go smoothly creating minimum delays since the arrival cards are filled in ahead of landing and it is expected that the vast majority of passengers will not have to undergo an examination. (Although there are some 17,000 arrivals daily, only 137 passengers came from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea in the course of 2014 according to available statistics. Around a dozen more are expected before the end of the year.)

Similar measures are already in affect at other airports in Europe and thereby the expectation is that everyone who is asked to go through the screening process will do so. Nevertheless it is the first time that such measures have been put in force and the authorities say they will be learning through experience over the coming days and responding to emergencies should the need arise. Refusal to fill in the arrival card or undergo medical screening will be regarded as an offense and such a person may be fined by up to 10,000 crowns or –in the event of health problems –be refused entry into the country.

Photo: CTK

Although there are no direct flights to the Czech Republic from western Africa, the Czech health authorities are fully prepared to deal with a possible emergency. Prague’s Bulovka hospital has a special unit which would allow it to admit and treat a limited number of patients with highly infectious diseases including Ebola, and the Defense Ministry is activating its Biological Protection Centre in Těchonín which would be able to deal with a bigger emergency and treat more patients in the event of a crisis.

Anyone interested in the details of the “arrival cards” that are now in force for incoming passengers on international flights can download a copy of the questionnaire in English on the web of the Czech Health Ministry.

www.mzcr.cz/dokumenty/priletova-karta-ebola