Coronavirus: Temperature Checks Effective Immediately at Vienna Airport

More+More+ ♦ Published: February 6, 2020; 11:41 ♦ Updated: February 24; 09:31 ♦ (Vindobona)

Following a decision by the Austrian health authorities, the body temperature of passengers on direct inbound flights from China are being measured at Vienna International Airport (Flughafen Wien Schwechat) with respect to coronavirus.

Criticism from politicians: temperature checks come rather late. the Austrian authorities should have taken action at the latest after the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared a "health emergency of international significance". / Picture: © Austrian Airlines

The checks are being carried out by the health authorities and Red Cross staff.

The checks started on Thursday, 6 February 2020 and are still going on.

Passengers who currently land in Vienna (Flughafen Wien Schwechat) directly from Beijing will be examined before their departure in China, and the authorities will also check whether they have recently been in the crisis region around Wuhan.

Any suspicious facts are immediately examined by Vienna International Airport medical personnel and reported to the health authorities.

Criticism from politicians: temperature checks come rather late

"The temperature checks for passengers from China, which start today, will come quite late", criticised Udo Landbauer, Freedom Party chairman and club chairman in the Lower Austrian parliament.

According to Landbauer, the Austrian authorities should have taken action at the latest after the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared a "health emergency of international significance".

According to the WHO, the international health emergency had been in effect since 30 January. Only a whole week later Austria had reacted and finally carried out checks using infrared thermometers at Schwechat Airport. "It will not be possible to stop the virus by trivialising slogans", Landbauer warned against underestimating the situation.

Since only three flights per week of Air China from Beijing, with only about 400 passengers, are affected, it is all the more incomprehensible why they waited so long, Landbauer said. Equally incomprehensible was the appeasement strategy of the Green Minister of Health, Anschober. "Instead of trivializing the situation, Anschober should rather make the appropriate preparations in time", Landbauer stressed.