Even thermal scanners are a waste of money. My friend was stopped by an officer at Changi airport in Singapore during the SARS epidemic due to her abnormal body temperature (note: she wasn't sick at all).

It was very traumatic as she was made to go to the SARS hospital and all the officers who accompanied her wore astronaut-like outfits. She was even separated from her husband.

She felt so insulted by the incident. She was tested and she was OK.

Thinking back, she thought it was those three and a half cups of "hot" tea she had during the flight that might have raised her body temperature... especially because she just had one cup of hot tea just before landing.

Dewita

Jakarta

I would like to point out:

First, I don't think passengers would be very happy getting sprayed with 70 percent ethanol.

After all, ethanol at that concentration is normally used to kill germs and rarely used for contact with skin.

Furthermore, ethanol "cools" and dries the skin. I don't think anyone would appreciate such a funny disinfection measure.

Second, Singapore flu or the actual term "hand foot and mouth disease" is spread by direct contact with the saliva, feces and mucous of the infected person.

Disinfecting the skin does not prevent the person from coughing and talking and hence, releasing infectious saliva. Overall, I feel this is another waste of money.

Andiyanto

Thank you for reporting about this new development. I feel the need to point out a few discrepancies in the report, however.

First of all, the byline comes from "Badung", and the airport, is reported as the "Ngurah Rai International Airport in Badung".

This article was picked up and reported in international circles as being "Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bandung, Indonesia".

Both the original, and the "reprint" are misleading and confusing. The airport in question is located in Bali, Indonesia.

If the original The Jakarta Post article had been accurate, I believe the international reprints could have been accurate as well.

Secondly, The Jakarta Post article states "If a passenger has a body temperature above 155 degrees Fahrenheit or 38.5 degrees Celsius, he or she will be directed to the body clean disinfectant health quarantine, or body cleaner, to get sprayed with a 70 percent alcohol solution."

While a body temperature of 38.5 degrees Celsius is quite possible, any person with a body temperature of "155 degrees Fahrenheit" would have been dead well before reaching that temperature.

Jon