Surprise checks on airports, ports for Ebola preparedness

NEW DELHI: Senior health ministry officials will conduct surprise inspections of designated ports, airports as well as hospitals and laboratories across the country to review passenger screenings and preparedness to deal with Ebola virus.
Principal secretaries of different states met the Union health secretary recently to discuss measures already taken and those required to strengthen surveillance at various entry points.The health ministry informed states that a team of experts from the Centre will soon start visiting various designated ports and airports for an on-the-spot assessment of the measures, an official said.
State health departments have been asked to keep a strict vigil. “We have asked the states to keep a tab of the situation and identify gaps in screening as well as facilities and inform us regularly in case any facilitations are required,” he said.
The health ministry is also planning to train and sensitise private doctors and para medical staff at leading hospitals to deal with any suspected Ebola patient.

A health worker exits an ICU for potential Ebola patients at a hospital in New Delhi, on October 27, 2014. (AFP photo)
“As states have now trained master trainers, they were asked to conduct training of district rapid response teams,” the official said.
The government is also planning to conduct mock drills involving airports and isolation facilities, particularly on donning and taking off personal protective gear by the personnel.

The Ebola scare touched Indian shores earlier this month when semen samples of a man, who travelled from Liberia, tested positive. The 26-year-old Indian has been quarantined at the Airport Health Organization Quarantine Centre.
While most of his secretion samples including urine and saliva tested negative for Ebola virus, he continues to remain in the facility as authorities are waiting for reports of all his tests.