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🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Health & Science

Seven Americans quarantining at Kenya Ebola facility after US travel ban, says aid group

From The Guardian · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Seven American aid workers are quarantining in Kenya after traveling from Congo to combat Ebola.
  • They are the first to use a new US-funded isolation facility in Kenya, which faces local opposition and a court-ordered suspension of work.
  • US travel restrictions require citizens returning from Ebola-affected areas to quarantine in a third country for three weeks before entering the United States.

Seven American aid workers who were in the Democratic Republic of Congo to help fight the Ebola outbreak are now undergoing a 21-day quarantine in Kenya. Their stay is at a newly established isolation facility funded by the US government, a move that has generated significant local opposition and legal challenges in Kenya.

Samaritan’s Purse has seven American Disaster Assistance Response Team staff members there.

— Franklin GrahamPresident and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, confirming the presence of the aid workers at the facility.

The aid workers, employed by the US charity Samaritan's Purse, are the first individuals known to be using the facility. According to Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse, none of the staff members exhibit any symptoms of the virus. They have been placed in quarantine by the Kenyan government as a precautionary measure.

None of them have any symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days.

— Franklin GrahamPresident and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, detailing the condition and quarantine period of the staff.

This situation arises due to new US travel policies. American citizens returning from regions with Ebola outbreaks, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, are now required to spend three weeks in a third country before being permitted to enter the United States. The US government is constructing a 50-bed bio-isolation unit on a Kenyan air force base to accommodate asymptomatic Americans who may have been exposed to the virus.

Kenyan authorities have authorized their movement into the facility under the observation of the US public health service clinicians.

— US state department officialExplaining the official authorization and oversight of the aid workers' quarantine.

However, the facility has become a focal point of controversy in Kenya. Many citizens perceive it as the US offloading health risks onto their country. A Kenyan court had previously ordered a halt to the facility's construction, a decision the health minister initially failed to comply with, leading to contempt of court charges. Despite the legal order, construction reportedly continued, according to US officials and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters. A senior Kenyan foreign ministry official stated they had no information regarding the aid workers' move to the facility.

The decision was taken “strictly out of an abundance of caution.

— US state department officialStating the rationale behind the precautionary quarantine measures.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Guardian. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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