Port Louis, June 6 (IANS) The Mauritius government has taken a major step in view of the Ebola virus outbreak. The government has imposed a temporary ban on the entry of foreign nationals who have traveled to, transited through, or stayed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past 21 days.
However, Mauritian citizens and foreign residents holding a valid work permit, residence permit, business permit or student permit will continue to be allowed to enter the country. But if they have visited these three countries in the last 21 days, they will have to undergo a mandatory 21-day quarantine.
According to the African Union, Ebola outbreaks in Congo, Uganda and South Sudan pose a serious threat to regional public health.
The Mauritius government has also said that passengers arriving from affected countries will be subject to special health screening and risk assessment at airports and other entry points. If any passenger is found to have symptoms of Ebola, he or she will be immediately isolated and medically examined.
The government has also requested to postpone the 18th US-Africa Business Summit to be held in Mauritius in July.
On May 15, the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda was officially declared over. After this the World Health Organization declared it an international public health emergency.
On Friday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO launched an Ebola preparedness and response plan for all of Africa. Under this plan, a target has been set to raise US $ 518 million from June to November, so that African countries can help in identification, prevention and rapid response to the infection.
According to both organizations, so far 34 health workers have been infected with the Ebola virus. Of these, 7 have died, while 6 have recovered.
Experts warned that many challenges lie ahead in dealing with this outbreak. These include the lack of effective medical resources for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain, weak health infrastructure, limited resources, high mobility of people, insecurity, displacement, infection of health workers and the spread of misinformation.
For this reason, Africa CDC and WHO have implemented a joint preparedness and response plan to intensify coordinated action at the continent level and prevent the spread of the infection.
–IANS
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