Passengers to wear face masks and gloves at Manchester airport

Woman in facemask at an airport terminal Credit: PA

Passengers and staff at Manchester Airport will have to wear gloves and cover their faces. There will also be temperature scanners at the hub as part of a 'trial' to screen those who could have contracted COVID-19.

Passengers could also be asked to make a 'health declaration' to confirm they are asymptomatic before entering the terminal - or even provide the results of a COVID-19 test.

The measures, says Charlie Cornish, Group CEO of Manchester Airports Group, have been drawn up following consultation with medical experts and in the absence of official guidance from the government.

It comes amid calls from across the industry for Whitehall to set a framework for minimum standards for all UK airports to adhere to. Airport bosses say the full details are still being hammered out, but the changes mean:

  • All passengers will be required to wear gloves and face coverings.

  • Travellers are expected to bring their own and they can include scarves or other makeshift measures.

  • The airport will provide protective equipment for those without. As passenger numbers rise they will be expected to provide their own.

  • Trialling some technologies such as temperature measurement

  • The new measures would build on the existing signage, leaflets, annoucemenets and hand sanitisers already in place, they said.

  • The airport has also implemented a 'more intensive and visible' cleaning regime.

The government has said temperature testing is not reliable, although it is used in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

With airport leaders now understood to be frustrated with the waiting, they have taken the steps ahead of further international guidelines they expect to be introduced in the coming weeks.

Credit: ITV News.

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