Namibians urged not to visit Zimbabwe THE Minister of Health and Social Services, Richard Kamwi, has urged Namibians not to visit Zimbabwe due to Ebola fears. This comes after reports that Zimbabwe has quarantined over 100 people who returned from countries affected by the deadly outbreak in West Africa. Speaking to The Namibian from New York yesterday, Kamwi said he was not aware of the quarantine in Zimbabwe but warned Namibians not to visit that country. “The incubation period for Ebola is 21 days and until they are over and the country has been declared safe, I advise Namibians not to visit and Zimbabweans not to come to Namibia,” he said. Kamwi also maintained that no Namibian is yet allowed to visit Nigeria and Senegal. This is despite the fact that the WHO on Monday declared that the Ebola virus had been “pretty much contained” in Nigeria and Senegal and declared the two countries Ebola-free. “We do not know without doubt that it is contained, so we still need to take care of ourselves,” he said. Last month he advised visitors from Ebola-hit countries not to visit Namibia until further notice and Namibians not to travel to such countries. He said this advice does not affect Namibian citizens who are entitled to come back since they are guaranteed such rights in terms of the countrys Constitution. “However, such Namibians will be subjected to strict screening at the port of entry to ensure that they are not infected with Ebola,” Kamwi said. The affected countries are Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone and now Senegal, Zimbabwe as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ebola virus has since March this year killed more than 2 800 people. Although Kamwi earlier said that measures of thorough surveillance were in place at Hosea Kutako International Airport, Walvis Bay port and Oshikango border post, The Namibian has established that screening was not done at most borders. Despite the fact that Namibia has installed Ebola virus detectors at Hosea Kutako International Airport, there is still a risk from visitors coming into the country through other ports of entry, where no screening is done. [email protected] - See more at: namibian.na/indexx.php?id=18132&page_type=story_detail#sthash.vefCi5Vz.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 12:44:51 +0000
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