Passengers coming from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone will get extra screening for Ebola at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport starting Thursday, getting their temperature taken and answering questions.
Hartsfield-Jackson general manager Miguel Southwell said the Atlanta airport gets an average of about five passengers from those countries a day. The number has been as high of 15 a day, he said during a briefing to the Atlanta City Council transportation committee Wednesday. Passengers from those countries could arrive in Atlanta through connecting international flights or domestic flights. Southwell said passengers from Atlanta’s daily flight from Lagos, Nigeria, will also get extra questioning.
He also said the U.S. Coast Guard will step in to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection with the screening of passengers, and the Centers for Disease Control is also stationed at the airport. Other employees are also being trained, including Atlanta Fire Rescue, who respond to calls of ill people in the airport.
If someone is suspected to have Ebola and meets certain conditions, workers will don protective suits, Southwell said. The airport does not have a special ambulance for Ebola, he said, but if an ambulance were used for such transport it would be treated afterward.
