2 quarantine areas to be set up at NAIA

Almost six weeks after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out of China, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) management announced yesterday it would set up two quarantine areas at the country’s premiere airport.

NAIA general manger Edgardo Manda also confirmed that he is mulling the possibility of diverting all flights from "SARS-safe" countries, or those that have not posted SARS cases, to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport at Clark Field, Pampanga, about 80 kilometers north of Manila.

At the same time, airport authorities announced they would be purchasing 10 thermal fever sensor machines, estimated to cost from P18 million to P39 million, to be used in all NAIA terminals, including the Manila Domestic Airport.

Manda said one quarantine area will be set up at the ramp bus parking area near Terminal 1 while the other will be set up northeast of Runway 06/24 across Terminal 2.

All international and domestic airline passengers will be be subjected to thermal body scanning at the luggage x-ray area to weed out passengers with temperatures of at least 37.5 degrees Celsius, he said.

According to Marcelino Yumol, the airport’s chief purchasing officer, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) will purchase 10 thermal cameras to scan inbound and outbound passengers.

Yumol said in a statement that MIAA is choosing among three kinds of thermal cameras, all made by a firm identified only as Spectrum.

Yumol said the ThermaCam M595 costs about P3.9 million each; the ThermaCam ER, P2.2 million each and the ThermaCam EM, P1.8 million each.