- The coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, has now been identified in 28 other countries as authorities scramble to contain the outbreak.
- Officials and volunteers at train stations and airports on country borders are at the front lines of screening individuals who could potentially spread the virus.
- Screeners have deployed a wide variety of safety measures including recommending sanitary accessories like gloves and masks, in addition to more advanced technology like thermal imaging.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
At least 34,000 people have been infected by the Wuhan coronavirus worldwide, and more than 700 people have died in just a few weeks after the outbreak was first identified.
The virus has spread from its origin point in Wuhan, central China, to 28 other countries, sparking the country’s response of putting 16 cities under quarantine, halting transportation, and cutting off nearly 50 million people to try and quell the outbreak.
Authorities have turned to medical tests and hastily built facilities to identify and treat patients, and officials working at train stations and airports are at the front lines of screening individuals who could potentially spread the virus.
Here are some photos of the futuristic-looking measures taking over travel.
After the outbreak was first reported and found to be passed from human to human, authorities recommended basic measures like gloves and face masks to minimize potentially infectious contact.
Foto: Information officer wearing protective mask, gloves and goggle, as prevention of novel coronavirus epidemic, gives directions to a passenger at international arrival gate of Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia on February 4 2020.sourceJohanes Christo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Source: Business Insider
Even hand sanitizer has made an appearance as officials take all possible precautions.
Foto: A volunteer offers hand sanitizer to passengers. In light of a coronavirus outbreak in China, Hong Kong district councilors and residents formed makeshift quarantine stations, screening passengers arriving from China. Citizens measured passenger's temperatures and offered hand sanitizer.sourceWillie Siau/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
To sanitize large areas in busy travel centers, officials suited up and sprayed airports, railway stations, and even passengers themselves.
Foto: Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China February 4, 2020.sourcecnsphoto via REUTERS
Source: Business Insider
The insides of trains and planes are also ripe for disinfecting to cut down on possible transmission of the virus.
Foto: A disinfection worker wearing protective gears spray anti-septic solution in an train amid rising public concerns over the spread of China's Wuhan Coronavirus at SRT train station on January 24, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.sourceChung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Authorities in countries like Indonesia tightened their health checks on arrivals of outsiders, with some taking individual temperatures of passengers specifically coming from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Foto: The Health Quarantine officers of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport carry out body temperature checks from abroad passengers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang city.sourceAditya Irawan/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Source: Time
Volunteers in China have stepped up to take temperatures at high-volume border crossing areas, like here in Tin Shui Wai, a border city in Hong Kong.
Foto: A resident wearing mask and raincoat takes the temperature of passenger at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, China, February 4, 2020.sourceTyrone Siu/Reuters
Screening areas at airports also employ thermography tools to monitor large groups of passengers for possible symptoms.
Foto: Screen shows passengers passing through at quarantine inspection station at Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Terminal in Sepang, Malaysia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020.sourceVincent Thian/AP
Transit stations aren't the only places where thermal imaging is used to monitor customers. High-volume areas at hotels and casinos also use the technology to monitor crowds.
Foto: A security guard monitors thermal scanners that detect temperatures of visitors at the closed Grand Lisboa casino and hotel.sourceTyrone Siu/Reuters
Handheld thermal imaging devices give authorities a closer look at passengers in a closer range.
Foto: A Rospotrebnadzor (Russian Federal Service for Consumer Protection and Welfare Supervision) official uses thermal imaging devices to remotely measure temperature of passengers arriving at Novosibirsk International Airport from Sanya, China,sourceKirill KukhmarTASS via Getty Images
Since one of the key symptoms of the virus is a high fever, thermal imaging provides a quick look at individuals who should be quarantined. Thermal imaging technology was also used in the SARS outbreak, which also saw high fevers.
Foto: A sanitary and quarantine control official screens the temperatures of arriving passengers at Vnukovo International Airport; temperature screening using thermal imaging devices is under way at Vnukovo AirportsourceMikhail JaparidzeTASS via Getty Images
Source: The Wall Street Journal
The larger screens can process whole groups of people while they travel through a terminal.
Foto: Passengers from an international flight have their temperature checked as they pass a thermal scanner monitor upon arrival at the Adisucipto International Airport on January 23, 2020 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.sourceUlet Ifansasti/Getty Images
Part of the display shows the identified temperature, which is ideally 37°C, or 98.6°F.
Foto: Passengers walk through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang, Indonesia on January 23, 2020.sourceMUHAMMAD A.F/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Source: US Library of Medicine
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Everything you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak in 30 seconds
