Air passengers entering China are now subject to tightened quarantine procedures against A(H1N1) influenza, which at Beijing Capital International Airport have extended average waiting times by 30 minutes.

Wang Yang, an officer at the airport’s inspection and quarantine bureau, told China Daily that it normally takes five minutes for 300 passengers to pass border quarantine, but now it takes at least 30 seconds per passenger

Starting on 2 May, all passengers entering the mainland need to complete a health declaration form and hand it for checking to quarantine officers.
The information is deemed necessary if the authorities need to trace anyone.

Passengers’ body temperatures are also checked by infrared machines. If the temperature is higher than 37 C, officers question passengers to ascertain whether they should be sent to an isolation room. There, a doctor conducts checks to determine if the passenger needs to be transferred to a designated hospital.

Ten passengers were sent to the hospital from the airport on 3 May for suspected symptoms.