By Kash Cheong, The Straits Times, 15 Oct 2014
NEW measures will be introduced at Changi Airport at noon today (Oct 15) to screen incoming travellers for Ebola.
Nationals and travellers from countries with reported Ebola virus disease activity - Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo - will be directed to a screening station to get their temperature checked, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday.
They will be required to answer a questionnaire on exposure to Ebola and fill in a health declaration card, which will include their contact details in Singapore.
Travellers who are cleared will be directed to the duty desk at the arrival hall, where they will clear immigration control.
The new measures follow the detection of Ebola cases in the United States and Spain, which show that an imported case and the potential for community exposure from imported cases cannot be ruled out, MOH said.
Ebola has killed more than 4,000 people in West Africa since an outbreak started this year.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that the number of cases in three West African nations may jump to between 5,000 and 10,000 a week by Dec 1, as the deadly viral infection spreads.
The outbreak is still expanding geographically in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Dr Bruce Aylward, the WHO's assistant director-general in charge of the Ebola response, said in a briefing with reporters in Geneva.
The outbreak is still expanding geographically in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Dr Bruce Aylward, the WHO's assistant director-general in charge of the Ebola response, said in a briefing with reporters in Geneva.
With the new measures at Changi Airport, passengers screened and found to have a fever will be transported in an appropriate ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for further medical assessment, said MOH.
Travellers who are well but who are identified as having possible exposure to Ebola virus infection will be quarantined or put under surveillance, depending on the risk assessment.
MOH has also reminded all Singapore hospitals to be vigilant against possible suspect cases.
Singapore's public hospitals have the appropriate infection control measures in place, said MOH.
Before travelling to West or Central Africa, members of the public are encouraged to refer to MOH's travel advisory, which can be found online.
Ebola cases 'could hit 10,000 a week'
Outbreak expanding in African nations: WHO
The Straits Times, 15 Oct 2014
Outbreak expanding in African nations: WHO
The Straits Times, 15 Oct 2014
LONDON - The number of Ebola cases in three West African nations may jump to between 5,000 and 10,000 a week by December as the deadly viral infection spreads, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned yesterday.
The outbreak is still expanding geographically in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the number of cases in the capital cities is increasing, the WHO's assistant director-general in charge of the Ebola response, Mr Bruce Aylward, told reporters in Geneva.
The outbreak is still expanding geographically in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the number of cases in the capital cities is increasing, the WHO's assistant director-general in charge of the Ebola response, Mr Bruce Aylward, told reporters in Geneva.
"Any sense that the great effort that's been kicked off over the last couple of months is already starting to see an impact - that would be really, really premature," Mr Aylward said. "The virus is still moving geographically and still escalating in capitals, and that is what concerns me."
More than 8,900 people have been infected with Ebola in the three countries, with more than 4,400 deaths, he said. The number of new cases is slowing in some areas, such as Lofa county in Liberia, and Kenema and Kailahun in Sierra Leone, he said.
"There's a lot of bleak news out there about this outbreak and there should be," Mr Aylward said. Still, he added, "there are a lot of things that are positive".
By Dec 1, the WHO's goal is for 70 per cent of those who die from the disease to be buried safely and 70 per cent of cases to properly managed, Mr Aylward said.
If those goals are met, the number of new cases should decline from week to week beginning in January, he said.
In Britain, passengers arriving at London's Heathrow Airport are now being screened for Ebola as the nation steps up measures to combat the disease, scrapping plans to allow a resumption of flights to afflicted parts of Africa.
Targeted screening of a "low number" of passengers began yesterday at Terminal 1, which handles 85 per cent of travellers to Europe's busiest hub from the affected states. The checks include temperature readings specified by Public Health England and are the most stringent in Europe, even though the airport has no direct services to the Ebola area.
Meanwhile, the virus' arrival in the US is stirring anxiety across the airline industry as flight crews and passengers fret that a fever or upset stomach on board could be a sign of the deadly disease. False alarms are becoming routine at US airports.
Emergency crews surrounded an Emirates Airline jet in Boston yesterday after passengers showed flu-like symptoms, three days after a similar rush to isolate a Delta Air Lines plane in Las Vegas because of an Ebola scare.
WASHINGTON POST, BLOOMBERG