According to the Czech Minister of Health, Marie Součková, the special passenger form must be filled in with the surname, first name, flight number and passport number, country of departure, length of stay in the Czech Republic and the intended address of residence. If any of the passengers contracts SARS, doctors will be able to quickly find other passengers who had contact with the patient and prevent an outbreak of the deadly disease.
Czech medics believe that such a system of controlling passengers arriving in the country should be introduced as soon as possible in all European countries. In this case, it would be possible to control the movement of the infected from one country to another and promptly take the necessary measures.
All passengers are required to fill in registration cards, including Czech citizens returning home. The form can be obtained on board the aircraft and, once completed, handed to police officers at passport control at the airport.
The introduced security measures do not apply to citizens entering the country by land transport, said the Czech Chief Sanitary Doctor Michael Vít. The forms are made in Czech and English. "We will register absolutely all air passengers, including children. Parents or the person accompanying a child will fill in exactly the same card," Vít explained. The medics will keep all forms for 20 days, after which they will be destroyed, RIA Novosti reports.