Gov’t adopts preventive measures against Ebola

Government has adopted some measures against the Ebola virus, after some other countries started avoiding Cameroon due to the failure to put in place precautionary measures against the spread of the epidemic into the country.

The Minister of Public Health, Andrè Mama Founda, and the Minister of Transport, Robert Nkili, on August 14, jointly signed a decision which prohibited the national carrier, Cameroon Airlines Corporation, Camair-Co, from flying to countries where there is the Ebola virus, till further notice. There will also be strict controls and medical tests at international airports like Douala, as well as at entry points on land or by sea from Nigeria.

Before the Cameroon Government took the August 14 decision, some countries had expressed deep concern that, even though the deadly Ebola virus had spread as close as neighbouring Nigeria, the Cameroon Government did not put concrete preventive measures on the ground. Before August 14 when the Government came out with the decision, Camair-Co was still flying to countries like Nigeria. There was also no special health unit at the Douala International Airport to conduct medical tests on passengers coming from countries that have been hit by the Ebola virus.

Meanwhile, on August 13, Ivory Coast, which had a few days earlier announced a momentary ban for Ivorian planes to countries that have been hit by the Ebola virus, as well as a temporary ban on planes from such countries, prohibited Camair-Co flights from coming to Abidjan.

A Camair-Co flight, which was scheduled to take off from the Douala International Airport at 9.00am, destined for Abidjan, was due to make a stopover at Lagos. But since the Ivorian authorities had banned all flights coming in from countries with the Ebola virus, the Camair-Co play could not fly to Abidjan.

Thus, the Camair-Co flight was forced to make Lagos its destination. Consequently, passengers who had to travel to Abidjan by it, staged a protest demonstration at the Douala International Airport, as they were forced to spend a couple of hours at the airport, while the Camair-Co authorities were desperately trying to arrange for another flight for them.