Fnm Chairman Says Response To Ebola Threat Is Too 'Laid Back'
By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
FREE National Chairman Darron Cash yesterday criticised the government’s response to the potential threat of an Ebola case as “laid back” given the enormous risk the disease poses for the country’s tourism-driven economy.
He
added that he does not think the country is ready for an Ebola case,
despite assurances from officials that the country is on high alert for
the possibility.
Mr
Cash called for a full briefing on the government’s national plan,
particularly equipment readiness, decontamination and waste control
protocols, and co-ordination with the United States’ Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
In
a press statement yesterday, he pointed to reports that a health care
worker who might have had contact with the disease in Texas had been
quarantined on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.
According to reports yesterday, the woman has tested negative for the disease.
However, Mr Cash said the scare “has enormous implications for the Bahamas”.
“The
Bahamas receives an estimated 4.2 million tourists annually, and a
significant percentage of them come ashore and interact with
Immigration, Customs and police officers, taxi drivers, hair braiders,
store clerks, surrey drivers and others. The potential reach of a single
individual can be broad.”
Mr
Cash continued: “The experience of the cruise passenger reflects the
reality of just how quickly America’s phenomenally small experience of
less than 150 ‘Ebola-related risks/contacts’ can reach the islands of
the Caribbean. The lesson for the Bahamas should be crystal clear: we
should have been ready.
“We are not ready. We now need to get ready, remain ready and well-drilled and take nothing for granted.”
There
have been three confirmed cases of Ebola in America, which is the
closest country to the Bahamas with confirmed cases, according to the
CDC. Two nurses in Texas who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Duncan, who
died at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital earlier this month, have
tested positive for the virus. Duncan entered the US from Liberia.
On
Friday, Obama administration officials confirmed that a Carnival Magic
passenger, who had handled a lab specimen from the Liberian man, was
voluntarily self-quarantined on the cruise ship despite the fact that
she had shown no signs of illness.
The
Associated Press reported yesterday that the Dallas health care worker
had tested negative for the disease, and the cruise ship was back in
port in Texas.
This
follows reports that Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia last
week announced immediate travel bans on anyone who would have come from
or through Ebola-affected countries of West Africa, namely Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone.
In
response to whether the country was also considering a ban, Dr Glen
Beneby, chief medical officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health, said
workers at the ports were being educated and their awareness of Ebola
increased. He said the country was prepared to close its ports to those
travelling from Ebola-affected regions if it became necessary.
While
he acknowledged that there were different levels of readiness among
islands, Dr Beneby said that every island is ready to deal with the
disease.
Officials
also said that by Wednesday, every major Family Island or clinic will
have the necessary equipment to deal with a possible Ebola case.
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 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 screenings of travellers at ports of entry.
The
Ebola virus is a severe disease characterised by a sudden onset of
fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.
These
symptoms may be followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney
and liver function, and in some in cases both internal and external
bleeding.
Symptoms
may appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure to Ebola virus,
although eight to ten days is most common, according to the CDC.
In
an updated statement sent out on Friday, the Ministry of Health advised
travellers with Ebola-like symptoms to consult a health care provider
or contact the ministry’s surveillance unit within 21 days of entering
the country.
Contact numbers for the Surveillance Unit are: 502-4776, 502-4790, 397-1021, or 376-3533.
October 20, 2014
