The Tribune

BY RASHAD ROLLE and RICARDO WELLS

AS nations throughout the Caribbean impose travel bans and restrictions on foreigners who have moved through the Ebola-affected countries of west Africa, the Bahamas has decided not to close its ports at this time, government health officials said last night.

However, Dr Glen Beneby, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health, said workers at the ports are being educated and their awareness of Ebola increased, and should it become necessary the country would close its ports to those travelling from Ebola-affected regions.

“We have not decided to close our ports,” he said. “We decided to increase awareness of persons at ports and to have protocols in place for how to handle situations. If it becomes necessary to take the step of closing our ports, then that will be made but at this present moment we have not decided to do that.”

Dr Beneby added that every island is ready to deal with Ebola, although there are different levels of readiness among islands throughout the archipelago.

Dr Charlene Bain, Community Health Administrator in the Department of Public Health, said: “We have 56 central sites on a daily basis reporting matters of public health interest. With Ebola, we’ve enhanced what we’ve already been doing, targetting every major Family Island. Our team is presently in San Salvador. We’ve completed Rum Cay; we’ll be in Eleuthera on Sunday. Every island will be reached, and every island will have a stockpile of supplies in the event that something reaches their door.”

Dr Bain added that by Wednesday, every major Family Island or clinic will have the necessary equipment needed to deal with any possible Ebola case.

Mary Lightbourne Walker, Hospital Administrator at the Princess Margaret Hospital, emphasised that medical professionals have what is necessary to deal with Ebola. “We are in possession of the protective equipment necessary,” she said. “We have been training staff. We want people to be as comfortable as possible. Part of that training is being able to put on and take off the equipment. We are following world health guidelines.”

The statements of the medical professionals came as Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said yesterday that while the country remains on high alert, there is no travel ban in effect at this time. The issue, he said, remains a live one for the government and announcements will be made if the circumstances should require it.

FNM leader and former Minister of Health Dr Hubert Minnis also warned that should Ebola enter the Bahamas it could mean economic devastation.

Residents are becoming more alarmed due to the country’s accessibility and lack of Ebola screenings at ports of entry despite more international cases of the disease being confirmed daily.

Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia have all this week announced immediate travel bans on anyone that would have come from or through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, where nearly 4,500 people have died from Ebola.

Earlier this month the Ministry of Health released a 51-page Ebola Preparedness and Response Plan which was heavily scrutinised by some government and healthcare personnel for its lack of public education and medical training.

There is mounting global concerns that residents from affected west African nations could begin to travel to other countries with symptoms of Ebola that can later develop into a confirmed cases. There is a brief section in the report addressing port surveillance, which requires medical officers to be on call and to be accessible 24 hours a day. It does not call for ongoing screenings of travellers at ports of entry. The Bahamas is tourist hub, with visitors from a number of international ports.

The Jamaican government stated that the travel ban covers “persons ordinarily resident in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as well as persons who have travelled to or transited through Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, within 28 days of having departed from these countries.” The government claimed that the ban was a temporary measure to protect human and animal health.

Jamaican government officials added that Jamaican citizens and residents would be quarantined, in the interest of public health and national security, for 28 days after any travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. This also applied to members of international organisations with a right of entry to the country.

Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan announced on Thursday that anyone coming from Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Nigeria, will be denied entry to the country. In addition, people who visited those five African countries within the past six weeks will also not be allowed entry. And citizens who visited these countries will be quarantined for 21 days on arrival.

United States president Barack Obama has come under fire for not announcing a west African travel ban to help stop the spread of Ebola to the country. Mr Obama labelled the the thought of introducing a travel ban “immature” and said a travel ban would force those affected by the disease into hiding.

Yesterday a cruise ship with a Dallas health care worker aboard who is being monitored for signs of Ebola did not receive clearance to dock in Cozumel, Mexico, a day after Belize refused to let the passenger leave the vessel to be flown back to the US.

Obama administration officials said the passenger handled a lab specimen from a Liberian man who died from Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital earlier this month. Officials said the woman poses no risk because she has shown no signs of illness for 19 days and has voluntarily self-quarantined on the cruise ship, the Carnival Magic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned there could be as many as 10,000 new cases per week in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by the end of this year.

According to the department of statistics records, the Bahamas population stands at roughly 350,000 with six million annual tourist arrivals. Viewing those numbers in relation to an already underperforming medical service and a lack of Ebola education, many have now suggested that the country is not fully prepared to handle any potential cases of the virus.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control there have been three confirmed cases of Ebola in America, which is the closest country to the Bahamas with confirmed cases. Two nurses in Texas who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Duncan, who died last week, have tested positive for the virus. Duncan entered the US from Liberia.