In order to anticipate the transmission of diseases caused by the Mpox virus or monkeypox, the Denpasar Bali Health Quarantine Center (BBKK) checks the body temperature of passengers arriving from abroad.
The head of BBKK Denpasar, Anak Agung Ngurah Kusumajaya, stated that they would conduct additional examination if the passenger’s temperature goes beyond 37.5 degrees Celsius.
“If a temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius is detected, further examination will be carried out,” said the Head of the Denpasar Health Quarantine Center, Anak Agung Ngurah Kusumajaya, in Denpasar, Wednesday, August 21, 2024, as reported from Antara.
He explained that airport personnel utilize an automatic scan tool or thermal scanner to conduct body temperature checks at the international arrival terminal of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali.
Additionally, he urged airlines and the airport community to report any sick or feverish passengers or flight crew they encounter to officers of the Denpasar Health Quarantine Center for the I Gusti Ngurah Ra International Airport area.
He also asked to be reported if passengers or flight crew have signs or symptoms resembling Mpox disease or monkey pox.
Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially assigned the mpox outbreak the status of a public health emergency threat of International Concern (PHEIC).
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus conveyed the reason it had set mpox to PHEIC status, namely because a new variant of this viral disease was spreading in Africa.
“Mpox cases have been found in 13 African countries, and the new form is spreading. This is the second time in two years that the organization has issued a warning about this disease,” he said in a release that appeared on the official WHO website on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.
Monkeypox spreads through close contact, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact, and talking or breathing near another person. The disease causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions and can be fatal, with four out of 100 cases resulting in death.
Ngurah Rai Airport has 3 thermal scanner units to detect body temperature
A total of three thermal scanner units were placed at the International Arrival Terminal, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali, to detect the mpox virus or monkeypox which is now a concern for many parties.
As reported by CNN Indonesia, the General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Handy Heryudhitiawan, said the installation of the thermal scanner was anticipation regarding the increase in the status of mpox as a public health emergency that is troubling the world.
Currently, the focus of placing the scanner is only in the international arrival area of Ngurah Rai Airport.