TIG Post

Tag: quarantine

  • President Uganda extends 21-day quarantine for Ebola epicentre

    President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has extended a quarantine imposed on two districts at the epicentre of the country’s Ebola outbreak by 21 days, saying his government’s response to the disease was successful.

    The presidency announced late Saturday that movement into and out of Mubende and Kassanda districts in central Uganda will be restricted until December 17. It was imposed for 21 days on October 15, then extended for another 21 days on November 5.

    The purpose of the extension was to “further sustain the gains in Ebola control that we have made, and to protect the rest of the country from further exposure.”

    The government’s anti-Ebola efforts were bearing fruit, with two districts now going nearly two weeks without new cases, according to the president.

    “It may be too early to celebrate any successes, but overall, I have been briefed that the picture is good,” he said in a statement.

    The East African nation has so far recorded 141 infections. Fifty-five people have died since the outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever was declared on September 20th.

    Although the outbreak was gradually being brought under control, the “situation is still fragile,” Museveni said, adding that the country’s weak health system and circulation of misinformation about the disease were still a challenge.

    The Ebola virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain, which spread during recent outbreaks in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

  • Canada removes  vaccination entry requirements and makes the Arrive Can  optional

    All remaining Covid border restrictions, including the requirement for traveller vaccinations, have been lifted, Canada reports.

    As of 1 October, travellers will also no longer need to provide proof of Covid vaccination, undergo any testing, or isolate and quarantine.

    The mask mandate on planes and trains will also be lifted.

    The ArriveCan app – used to upload health documents when entering Canada – will become optional.

    Federal health minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in an announcement on Monday that Canada is “in a much better position” than it was earlier in the pandemic, in part due to the availability of Covid-19 vaccines and treatment options.

    The country’s high vaccination rate – with around 82% of the population having received two doses – and a falling death rate are also factors.

    Around 32 Canadians are currently dying each day from the virus.

    Covid-19 cases are slowly rising in Canada and signs point to a resurgence ahead of autumn, Mr Duclos said, but he added this is “largely explained by the domestic transmission of the virus”.

    He said Ottawa is open to reintroducing measures, especially if a new, highly-transmissible variant emerges.

    Vaccine mandates for travellers entering the US remain in place, and some American lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to drop the remaining restrictions.

    Other countries, including the United Kingdom, dropped Covid entry requirements earlier this year.

    Covid-19 mandates were opposed by some in Canada and were the subject of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests in Ottawa, which were held in support of truckers who refused to get vaccinated to cross the US-Canada border.

    The February protests gridlocked Canada’s capital for two weeks.

    Supporters of the convoy also staged blockades at key border crossings between the US and Canada, disrupting the flow of goods between the two countries.

    The protests were eventually cleared after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the never before used Emergencies Act, which gives the government additional powers in times of national crisis.

    The World Health Organisation declared in early September that Covid-19 deaths have hit their lowest point but experts have warned about the ongoing threat of the virus, especially if new variants emerge.

    Despite the end of the restrictions, Mr Duclos urged people to get their booster shots and encouraged people to continue wearing masks in public.

  • Health Director chased for GH¢ 219,000 hotel bill for quarantined staff

    The Northern Regional Health Director, Dr. John B. Eleeza, has disclosed that his office is being chased to settle a hotel bill of GH¢219,000 by the hotel management in Tamale.

    “The people are chasing us right, left, center for their money, ” he said.

    According to him, the hotel was used to quarantine health workers who came into contact with the eight Guineans and two Burkinabes who tested positive for Covid-19 in Tamale in the Northern Region .

    Forty health workers at the Tamale Teaching Hospital who got into contact with the foreigners were put on mandatory quarantine.

    The Health Director was responding to a question on why health workers in the region are asked to self quarantine instead of the health directorate.

    He indicated that the bill has been sent to the Regional Ministers’ office for the necessary action.

    Dr. Eleeza was optimistic that the bill will eventually be paid.

    He cautioned health workers to treat every patient as a potential Covid-19 patient to ensure that they protect themselves from being infected.

    Source: Daily Guide Network

  • Dont push for release of quarantined COVID-19 cases; Families, relatives advised

    The Bono East Regional Director of Health, Dr Fred Adomako Boateng, has advised family members to desist from mounting pressure on health workers and the Rapid Response Teams to release their relatives who have been put under mandatory quarantine on suspicion of having contracted the COVID-19 disease.

    He said that health workers, the response teams, and other stakeholders frequently received requests of release and threats from relatives of persons suspected to have contacted the virus.

    Dr Boateng was speaking to the Daily Graphic at Nkoranza during a four-day tour by the Bono East Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Amoakohene, to the 11 municipalities and districts to monitor the preparedness of the assemblies towards the fight against COVID-19.

    He said the Ghana Health Service (GHS) had been taking good care of the suspected COVID-19 patients and ensuring that they did not encounter any problem while under the mandatory quarantine, explaining that it was important to isolate such persons to prevent them from spreading the virus should they be found to be carrying it.

    Compulsory testing

    Dr Boateng disclosed that plans were far advanced for compulsory COVID-19 tests for all food vendors and drivers of commercial vehicles in the region, explaining that those groups had been penciled for the exercise because they rendered services to a large number of people.

    “The GHS, in collaboration with political heads and traditional leaders in the region, has decided to enhance its surveillance by testing all food venders, trotro and taxi drivers in the region.

    It is a kind of innovation we are introducing in the region,” he stated.

    Dr Boateng said the GHS was working hard to get the list of all the food vendors, trotro, and taxi drivers in the region and as soon as the resources were released, they would commence the testing.

    Face mask

    Speaking at Kajeji in the Sene East District, the Deputy Bono East Regional Minister, Mr Martin Oti Gyarko, charged the assembly and other stakeholders not to allow persons from the Oti Region without face masks to enter the region.

    He also directed the district health directorates to screen and get contacts of persons from the Oti Region before allowing them to enter the region.

    At Busunya in the Nkoranza North District, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mrs Gifty Akosa Arthur, said all the tourist centres in the district had been closed down in a bid to halt the spread of the virus and cited the Buabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary and Manso Water Falls as facilities that had been closed down.

    She said the assembly had trained 160 health workers to improve their knowledge and skills on how to handle COVID-19 cases when the need arose.

    At Techiman, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr John Donyina, mentioned the influx of people from other regions and the lack of means of transport for COVID-19 activities as some of the challenges the assembly faced.

    He said the assembly had procured and distributed 5,000 nose masks, 50 gallons of hand sanitisers, 20 thermometer guns and boxes of hand gloves to some market women and some community members to help fight the virus.

    Recommendation

    For his part, Mr Amoakohene commended the chiefs and people in the region for adhering to the ban on all public gatherings, including festivals, religious activities, funerals, political rallies, and nightclubbing, among other events.

    According to him, no case had been reported by the police in the region on persons flouting the orders. He, therefore, expressed gratitude to the chiefs and people for their preparedness to assist in the fight against the disease.

    “Let us continue to provide support for the government and I am confident that the Almighty God will surely heal our land and this too shall pass”, he stated.

    Source: graphic.com.gh

  • Australian billionaire exempt from quarantine

    Since late March, all Australians who return from overseas have been required to spend 14 days in quarantine in hotels – or almost all of them that is.

    Billionaire and media mogul Kerry Stokes and his wife were given an exemption from these quarantine rules on medical grounds by Western Australian police, meaning they could self-isolate in their home rather than be shut up in a hotel room, say local media reports.

    The couple had reportedly returned to Perth from the United States on their private jet two weeks ago.

    WA Premier Mark McGowan had earlier said the quarantine rules applied “for all Australians”.

    However, according to Australia’s Department of Health, it is possible for people to be granted a quarantine exemption on medical grounds on a case by case basis.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Kenya hunts those filmed fleeing coronavirus quarantine centre

    Kenyans filmed escaping from a coronavirus quarantine centre will be hunted down and sent back there, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.

    “We know you and we will find you,” he said, adding that the escapees were putting the lives of others at risk.

    The warning came after a video clip went viral showing several people scaling a wall to flee a quarantine centre in the capital, Nairobi.

    Those in forced quarantine have been complaining about poor conditions.

    They say some centres are not much better than prisons, with poor hygiene and complaints that social distancing is impossible because of overcrowding.

    Others are angered about having to pay for their confinement, which costs between 20 (£16) and $100 a night – depending on the centre.

    Hostels at schools and universities as well as hotels have been used to hold those put into quarantine for an initial 14-day period – though this has been extended twice at some centres.

    More than 400 people are currently in quarantine. They include people who arrived in the East African country from areas affected by the virus before it closed its borders and those found to have been in contact with a coronavirus patient.

    It is not clear how many individuals escaped from quarantine at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) but some reports put the number at 50.

    The breakout took place on Tuesday as a meal was being served. The centre’s residents had a chance to escape when it started to rain and the guards took cover, Kenya’s Citizen TV station reports.

    The Daily Nation newspaper tweeted a video, showing some people jumping over a wall:

    According to the paper, the KMTC centre has more than 200 people in quarantine – held as a consequence of contact tracing or after being arrested for flouting the curfew and social distancing rules.

    The country has not gone into lockdown, but has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and a ban on travel to or from Nairobi and several other areas considered hotspots for transmission.

    Ramadan plea

    During a radio interview in Swahili on Wednesday morning, President Kenyatta urged Kenyans to take the restrictions seriously.

    “For the safety of your family, and your loved ones, do what is necessary to protect them. Stay away. Do not put people at risk because you do not think it is serious,” he is quoted as saying.

    He said that by the weekend, as many as 2,000 people a day would be tested for coronavirus, the Daily Nations reports.

    The president also ruled out relaxing the curfew during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins at the end of the week and when there are usually gatherings after dusk to breakfast.

    “We told Christians during Easter that you cannot mark this day… We respect all religions but we have said that let us all celebrate and mark these religious days in our homes, on radio and on television,” the Daily Nations quoted Mr Kenyatta as saying.

    “I ask our Muslim brothers and sisters to mark the holy month of Ramadhan like they have not done before because these are extraordinary times.”

    Kenya has recorded 296 cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus, including 14 deaths.

    Source: bbc.com