Shipowners urged to take Ebola threat seriously

Wed, Oct 29th 2014, 11:12 AM

Underscoring the impact that one case of the deadly Ebola virus would have on the Bahamian economy, Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday urged shipowners to adopt the government's new Ebola guidelines "as a matter of urgency".
Christie, who was speaking at the Bahamas Shipowners Association's 2014 annual general meeting at the British Colonial Hilton, said the new policy should be adopted on all Bahamian ships that travel to affected West African nations.
"Collectively, we must define measures to reduce the risk of exposure to crews and citizens alike," he said.
"We, here in The Bahamas, do not take the matter lightly, as we know that any reported incident of this virus can have a deleterious effect on our economic lifelines. For this reason, the government of The Bahamas has established an Ebola task force of which I'm the chair."
Christie introduced the taskforce to the Bahamian public last week.
"The primary concern of this taskforce is to be able to respond at a moment's notice to any real or suspected cases of the Ebola virus from a public health standpoint and to put in place all of the necessary protections that the country should have," he said.
Christie said the taskforce has established protocols to ensure port safety.
"I'm certain that protocols and new standard operating procedures would be made available to you to protect the shipping industry," he said.
During a press conference last week, Christie said the government has "taken all reasonable steps to protect the country" from Ebola.
He said he is satisfied with the plan in place.
"There is no country in the region that has greater challenges in terms of coverage than the Commonwealth of The Bahamas," Christie said.
"...We have so many diverse points of entry from America into The Bahamas. So when we look at aircraft coming in, we have a number of major challenges that we have been addressing."
Concerns about the Ebola virus were heightened this month after two nurses in the United States contracted the virus after treating a patient who tested positive for Ebola following a trip to Liberia.
Christie said the task force has identified several "vulnerable points", including ports that accept charter flights, marinas and the Freeport Container Port, which sometimes accepts boats that travel through West Africa, where the Ebola virus has killed more than 4,500 people.
"We have commenced communications in these vulnerable areas so that everyone understands what role they have to play in being able to help us defend ourselves in all circumstances against the threats that Ebola represents," the prime minister said.
Airport staff, hospital staff, marines, police officers and medical officials are all undergoing the training necessary to respond to a suspected case of Ebola, Christie said.

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