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10/2/14, "Saudi Arabia bans Ebola-stricken countries from hajj pilgrimage," pbs.org,
With the arrival of approximately two million people from around the
world in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage, there are a group
of pilgrims who were not welcomed.
The Saudi government has banned the entry of travelers from three countries
currently dealing with the Ebola epidemic: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra
Leone. The decision to reject visa requests from these countries has
affected 7,400 people, according to the Associated Press.
Hospitals in Saudi Arabia are also preparing in the event of an outbreak by setting up isolation and surgery units as well as dispatching medical staff to airports.
Despite
banning pilgrim seekers from West Africa, Saudi officials are granting
visas to pilgrims travelling from Nigeria. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz
International Airport has
provided them with two exclusive lounges as a
precaution.
“So far 118,000 pilgrims have arrived by air from
Nigeria. There was not a single suspected case of the deadly virus among
anyone of them,” said Abdul Ghani Al-Malki, supervisor of hajj affairs at the airport.
Saudi
officials have also been closely monitoring incoming flights from
Kenya, Congo and other countries with reported cases of Ebola. Al-Malki
told the local Saudi Gazette
that airport’s health inspection center ensured that planes and their
passengers were not only free of Ebola, but other contagious diseases as
well. “We have double-checked the papers that prove the airplanes had
been sprayed twice before taking off to their destinations.”
The current death toll from Ebola in West Africa rose to 3,338, according to the World Health Organization report released Wednesday."
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