After ensuring that passengers are screened at airports before and after departure, the Federal Government has come up with a policy to check the land transport system.
The Federal Government on Tuesday, August 12, directed commercial drivers to demand medical reports from sick passengers before conveying them to their destinations.
This is part of efforts at containing the spread of the Ebola virus disease according to the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu.
Road transport owners have also been advised to seek for a certificate of waiver for corpses before being transported from one part of the country to another.
While the newly introduced effort at managing the spread of the Ebola virus through land transport is described as a welcomed development, members of the Road Transport Owners Association believe that the provision of gadgets that could check passenger temperature is also necessary.
Ten Reported Cases
The Federal Government of Nigeria had confirmed a tenth case of the Ebola Virus Disease in Lagos State.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the tenth Ebola case was diagnosed in a nurse who had primary contact with late Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian with the first case of the disease.
“So far a total of 177 primary and secondary contacts of the index case had been placed under surveillance,”Professor Chukwu said.
‘National Emergency’
President Goodluck Jonathan had last week, declared the control and containment of the Ebola Virus in Nigeria a ‘National Emergency’.
He further directed the Federal Ministry of Health to work in collaboration with the State Ministries of Health, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies to ensure that all possible steps were taken to effectively contain the threat of the Ebola Virus in line with international protocols and best practices.
To further strengthen on-going steps to contain the virus, President Jonathan approved a Special Intervention Plan and the immediate release of 1.9 billion Naira for its implementation.
The fund would be used for the establishment of additional isolation centres, case management, contact tracing, deployment of additional personnel, screening at borders and the procurement of required items and facilities.
