Coronavirus: Only unwell passengers being checked at NZ borders

Entering New Zealand from the country at the centre of a global virus outbreak, an Air China passenger says no one aboard his flight was screened.

The passenger, who did not want to be named, told the Herald he arrived in Auckland from Beijing on Monday evening.

"There was no one checking passengers' temperatures at Customs, through immigration, anywhere," he said.

"I just walked out."

Even though he and other passengers mentioned they had recently travelled to Wuhan, they left Auckland Airport only clutching a health pamphlet, he said.

A military officer wearing a protective suit gives instructions to evacuees from Wuhan, China, as they travel to a hospital in Poland. Photo / AP

It was poles apart from the health screening he had seen in China, where travellers' temperatures were taken at multiple points at Hong Kong airport.

Despite feeling fine and seeing no one on his flight seeming to be ill, he said the lack of screening made him nervous.

"Every single person on the flight was wearing a mask, protecting themselves and trying not to spread anything.

"I'm perfectly fine, but it was very unusual."

Virus Spread

The passenger's concerns follow comments online by shocked passengers who recently entered New Zealand unscreened.

One passenger, who returned to Auckland via Hong Kong with their family only two days ago, took to Reddit to write about their arrival from a self-imposed isolation.

They wrote that travellers faced strict precautions at Hong Kong airport and filled out questionnaires on their recent travel.

"At the entrance of Hong Kong International Airport, workers were checking documents and only allowing those who had flights within 24 hours in.

"Everyone was wearing masks. Before passing through security, temperatures were taken again."

But when they arrived in Auckland, there was no indication of the global coronavirus outbreak but a few posters and a few people wearing face masks.

"The customs worker who served us wasn't even wearing a mask and there was no temperature check," the passenger wrote.

"The E-gates were still open too. It would've been very easy for someone to slip through."

A pilot wearing a protective suit parks a cargo plane at Wuhan's Tianhe International Airport. Photo / AP

Despite extensive media coverage of the coronavirus outbreak, the passenger wrote that it felt as if the outbreak "didn't exist" in New Zealand.

"It was a stark contrast from my experience in China and Hong Kong. I'm wondering whether it was because my flight was from Hong Kong rather than mainland China and because it was early in the morning and they had not yet implemented the new procedures they said they would in the news."

A Ministry of Health spokesman said that from last Monday, public health staff have been at Christchurch and Auckland International Airports as flights from mainland China arrive.

"Staff have been taking the temperatures of anyone who is feeling unwell and anyone with a temperature higher than 38 degrees Celsius will be referred for appropriate assessment," he said.

"Yesterday public health staff met approximately 2500 passengers on six scheduled flights and 7 passengers and crew on one private flight arriving at Auckland Airport and 230 passengers and crew on one flight arriving at Christchurch International Airport from mainland China."

None of those travellers met the suspected case definition for Novel coronavirus.

In Japan, passengers have their temperatures checked before boarding flights to Wuhan. Photo / Getty Images

The Ministry of Health recommended those who have been in mainland China after February 2 to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival in New Zealand.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has updated their travel advisory and now recommend that New Zealanders do not travel to any part of mainland China.

Additional border measures came into effect on February 2, denying entry to New Zealand for anyone who has left or transited through mainland China from February 2, 2020, unless they are New Zealand citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family, citizens of Tokelau, Niue and the Cook Islands, and air crew who have used appropriate protective equipment.

"The Ministry is working closely alongside DHBs and Public Health Units around the country and they will keep us up to date of any suspected cases."