Greece
and India have warned their citizens to avoid non-essential travels to
Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone because of the outbreak of
Ebola virus in these west African countries.
A
statement issued by the Greek Health Ministry said the recommendation
was after a meeting with the Hellenic Center of Disease Control and
Prevention.
The ministry
said the country would take precautionary measures at ports and other
entry points to monitor people coming into the country.
“Our country has a low level of risk in terms of the virus entering the country.
“But it is
deemed appropriate to issue strict travel instructions to the public and
to boost the level of preparedness at the entry gates to the country,”
the ministry’s statement said.
Greece is just the latest among countries advising travellers to cancel trips to countries affected by the virus.
Similarly, India Union’s Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, was reported as saying that the country had taken precautionary steps to deal with any case of the virus.
In a statement
obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, Vardhan recommended
that non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria
be deferred.
The World
Health Organisation has reported 1,603 cases, including 887 deaths as of
Aug. 4, in West Africa from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
The Indian
health minister also said the government would be obtaining details of
travellers originating or transiting from Ebola virus affected countries
to India from the concerned Airlines and Indian Missions.
He said the government would track these persons after their arrival in India, up to their final destination in the country.
According to the India’s External Affairs Ministry some 40,000 Indian citizens are currently living in Nigeria.
NAN reports
that Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, is due to
brief members of the diplomatic corps later on Thursday.
Chukwu will
brief the diplomats on Nigeria’s response to the Ebola virus outbreak,
after the country recorded two deaths from the virus in Lagos.
The US, Germany and France are among those who have warned travellers to cancel trips to the countries affected by the virus.
No comments:
Post a Comment