Rwanda backtracks on special Ebola screening of travellers from US and Spain

By Vision Reporter

Rwanda will no longer have special Ebola-screening measures imposed on travelers arriving from the United States and Spain. The Minister of Health, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, retracted her order and made the announcement on her Twitter handle last evening.
Rwanda’s Health Minister; Agnes Binagwaho tweeted; “The MoH (Ministry of Health) is removing special screening of travellers from US and Spain. Apologies for any inconvenience caused by my decision as Minister of Health, which was solely mine and not endorsed by the Government of Rwanda.”
In an effort to stem the spread of the Ebola virus, Rwanda’s Health Minister; Agnes Binagwaho had issued a directive that required all travellers from United States and Spain to send daily updates about their health status to government.
"Every day... they should call us or send an internet message," stating their health condition, Minister of Health Agnes Binagwaho told AFP on Wednesday.
 
The requirement was to apply to all travellers who had been in the US or Spain within the past three weeks. She’d directed that messages be sent for the first 21-days they are in Rwanda.
 
It also applies to Rwandan citizens who had been in the US or Spain.
 
Visitors who have been to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone within the last 21 days are barred from entry to Rwanda, which is screening all arriving travellers for Ebola.
 
Rwandan citizens who have travelled to the three west African countries are placed under quarantine on arrival.
 
The deadliest-ever outbreak of Ebola has claimed more than 4,500 lives in west Africa, and experts warn the rate of infections could reach 10,000 a week by early December.
 
There have been isolated Ebola cases of health workers in the United States and Spain, who caught the virus from those infected in west Africa.