Entry screening. Evidence for effectiveness of entry screening based on past experience As it has been described in WHO technical guidance during past public health events, entry or exit screening measures are generally conducted as a two-step process: primary screening and secondary screening 22,23. Primary screening includes an initial assessment by personnel, who may not necessarily have public health or medical training. Activities include visual observation of travellers for signs of the infectious disease, measurement of travellers’ body temperature, and completion of a questionnaire by travellers asking for presence of symptoms and/or exposure to the infectious agent. Travellers who have signs or symptoms of the infectious disease, or have been potentially exposed to the infectious agent, are referred to secondary screening. Secondary screening should be carried out by personnel with public health or medical training. It includes an in- depth interview, a focused medical and laboratory examination and second temperature measurement24. A systematic review of the literature and a survey were conducted in the framework of a training course that was organised by DG SANTE in 2019 about entry/exit screening border measures24. The review examined structures and processes currently in place in EU MS and worldwide, as well as the strengths, limitations and lessons learnt from applying entry/exit screening at points of entry (ports, airports, ground crossings). The following are summary conclusions that have been extracted from the literature review and concern the lessons learnt from entry and exit screening measures applied during the Influenza Pandemic (H1N1), SARS and 2014-2015 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak. It should be noted that the conclusions may not be directly applicable to the 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease outbreak.
Entry screening
