Preventing the spread of Ebola has become a priority: President Hollande announces an expansion of controls in transport, while exercises are organized with the SAMU.
Buses, trains, boats… The plane will no longer be the only place of Ebola control. President François Hollande announced from Brussels (Belgium) that the controls will be extended to “all modes of transport”, with the aim of limiting the risks of the spread of this viral hemorrhagic fever.
40 boats from Africa per month
Currently, only airports are subject to arrival checks. They are also intended only for travelers on direct flights from contaminated countries (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone). “France must have control systems which must not be simply air traffic controls, but also controls on all modes of transport, even maritime”, recognized the French president. “This is what we are going to put in place. And for good reason: around forty boats arrive from West Africa every month.
The controls in question were put in place on October 18, by decision of the Minister of Health Marisol Touraine. Their application is relatively simple: a traceability sheet to be completed during the flight, and temperature control on landing. The expansion of this measure is a further step in efforts to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in France.
“Life-size exercises”
Indeed, the 12 reference centers in the care of patients have been appraised and controlled, announced Marisol Touraine on October 20. “Life-size exercises” were also organized in the emergency services but also with the SAMU. The first were held in Metz (Moselle) and Reims (Marne) with the participation of two voluntary “false patients”. The test consisted of evaluating staff protection and disinfection reflexes, and patient orientation and transport to one of the reference establishments. A key assessment when we know that 480 reports for Ebola have been recorded since June, according to the Institute for Health Watch (InVS), including 17 “possible cases. “
France is also mobilizing on the ground most affected by Ebola: West Africa. Three treatment centers will be created, according to Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, including one in Forest Guinea.
Let us recall that at the last assessment of the World Health Organization (WHO), the epidemic of hemorrhagic fever with Ebola virus affected 9,936 people, of which 4,877 died. And caregivers are not spared since 400 of them have been infected, 200 have died. The most recent, an American doctor, was diagnosed in New York (United States).
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