No hugs, greetings in Ebola hit West Africa countries
What you need to know:
- Ebola has killed more than 1,200 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.
- Kenyans living in these countries have been pressurising the High Commission in Abuja to advise the government to evacuate them.
- Kenyans in the affected countries took to email to exchange ideas on ‘how to stay safe’ following the flight bans.
People in Ebola-stricken West African countries no longer greet, go out with friends or hold meetings.
Kenyans who work for various international agencies have had to endure this lifestyle as one of the world’s deadliest fevers continues to ravage the region.
Ebola has killed more than 1,200 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.
One of the Kenyans returned from Monrovia on Thursday. He had been there since January and thinks the Liberian government is doing its best to contain the disease.
“There are no handshakes or hugs. Life has changed a lot,” he told the Nation Wednesday.
“People are uncertain because they know there is an epidemic that has neither a cure nor a vaccine. We were organising a conference, but it had to be postponed because it meant we had to invite people from around the country.”
Kenya suspended flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone on Tuesday. The government also announced that it would only admit Kenyans and medical experts from West Africa into Kenya.
FLIGHTS SUSPENDED
And Kenyans’ problems have been compounded by the fact that only Air Maroc and SN Brussels are still flying to Monrovia and Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Last Thursday, Mr Joseph Musili had booked a flight from Monrovia to Accra on the Gambian Bird, a local airline. But the firm suspended its flights.
“I don’t know how else I will get out of here with my family. I had hoped to connect with KQ in Accra,” he said by telephone from Monrovia.
Kenyans living in these countries have been pressurising the High Commission in Abuja to advise the government to evacuate them.
The embassy in Nigeria currently serves six other countries — Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Benin and Togo.
But a High Commission official on Tuesday responded that evacuation “will only be the last resort depending on how serious a threat the EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) poses to Kenyans in Liberia.”
“Our first duty is to protect the 42 million Kenyans who are here because if Ebola came here, clearly Kenya would become a basket case,” he argued in an interview with NTV on Tuesday night.
Wednesday, Kenyans in the affected countries took to email to exchange ideas on ‘how to stay safe’ following the flight bans. They cannot meet physically because of Ebola yet they have to keep in touch.
They also complained of prices of essential commodities going up as suppliers backed away from affected areas.
