DOHA: The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) has warned Qataris and residents against travelling to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, all of which have been affected by Ebola outbreaks. The advisory is valid until further notice.
Those who need to travel to these countries should follow strict infection prevention and control measures, the SCH said in a statement yesterday. Travellers should wash their hands, avoid direct contact with the blood and other body fluids of others, use personal protective equipment, avoid skin-piercing instruments and practise safe hygienic measures. The SCH again confirmed that there was no suspected or confirmed case of Ebola in Qatar as of yesterday.
The SCH is engaged in local, regional and international contacts as part of preparations to participate in a GCC meeting on Ebola in Riyadh on August 13. Dr Tawfiq bin Ahmed Khoja, Director-General, Executive Board of the GCC Health Ministers Council, said the meeting aims to put in place precautionary measures to protect Gulf citizens in the event of an outbreak of Ebola. In a scheduled expanded meeting tomorrow, officials from the SCH, Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corporation, Qatar Airways, QP, the Ministry of Interior, and the army will discuss potential Ebola outbreak scenarios and the appropriate preventive and control measures.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s health ministry yesterday said initial tests on a dead Saudi suspected of having contracted Ebola had returned negative. The man died on Wednesday after returning from a business trip to Sierra Leone and presenting symptoms similar to those of Ebola sufferers. The ministry said in a statement it was waiting for the results of further tests by laboratories in the US and Germany. Saudi Arabia has already suspended pilgrimage visas for citizens of West African countries hit by Ebola.
THE PENINSULA
