I recently reported that the Trump administration plans to send U.S. citizens exposed to the Ebola virus to Kenya rather than bring them home for observation and treatment as the outbreak of this hemorrhagic disease continues in the Africa.
I noted that President Donald Trump’s team had taken the lessons of the deadly 2014 outbreak to heart, when an infected patient spread the disease to his nurses while being treated at a Texas hospital.
Reports from Kenya indicate that the quarantine center is now being targeted for demonstrations and at least three people have been killed in the subsequent unrest.
At least one person has been killed after Kenyan police opened fire as hundreds of demonstrators protested a quarantine centre for US citizens exposed to Ebola, which the United States government is racing to build in the central town of Nanyuki.On Tuesday, the NGO Vocal Africa posted on X that one person had died after being shot in the head by Kenyan police who earlier used water cannon, tear gas to disperse the crowds.The proposed 50-bed unit at an air force base in Nanyuki has angered many Kenyans, who accuse the US of offloading the health risk of caring for those exposed to the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.Last week, hundreds took to the streets in Nanyuki amid growing frustration among residents as Kenyan and US authorities publicly reaffirmed their commitment to the plan despite court orders. At the time, the demonstration also turned violent, with at least two people killed and one wounded.
A high court in Kenya had temporarily suspended U.S. plans to set up an Ebola quarantine facility in the country, out of public health concern. However, the U.S. is proceeding with its plans.
Kenya’s government is pushing ahead with plans to establish an Ebola quarantine and treatment facility at a military installation in partnership with the United States after a Kenyan high court temporarily barred the arrangement earlier this week.The facility is for Americans potentially exposed to the deadly virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), more than 1,500 miles away. Kenya has not recorded any Ebola cases.It will help to “strengthen monitoring, isolation and emergency response capacity,” Kenya’s Ministry of Health said Saturday while adding that several other isolation and treatment centers will also be set up, including at Nairobi’s Kenyatta National Hospital and Kenya National Police Hospital.A US government source involved in the Ebola response told CNN that Americans helping to run the facility landed on Saturday at Laikipia Air Base, where the facility will be, about 125 miles north of the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
The Trump administration is also advising European nations to step up their travel restrictions for people coming to the continent from Ebola-impacted countries.
The Trump administration is telling European nations that they need to step up their travel restrictions for people coming to the continent from Ebola-hit countries in Africa, hinting that failure to do so may result in increased U.S. regulations on travel from Europe, including for the World Cup soccer tournament.Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday called European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convey the concerns and “to discuss U.S. and European coordination and response efforts to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda,” the State Department said in a statement.”The department’s highest priority and focus remain protecting the health of the American people and preventing this Ebola outbreak from reaching our shores,” it said.
Finally, the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced a $518 million emergency response plan to address the continuing outbreak.
The plan, which runs through November, covers emergency coordination, surveillance, testing, infection prevention, clinical care and community outreach.It came as the DRC’s Ministry of Health reported 71 new confirmed cases in a single 24-hour stretch this week, bringing the country’s confirmed total to at least 452 cases and 82 deaths. Uganda confirmed three additional cases on Friday, putting its total at 19 confirmed cases and two deaths.
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